Zen and Intent
by Depthcharge2030
Summary: In association with Gamewizard2008. Set 5 years after his story 'Legend of the Eight Firstborn' and 15 before his Nextgen series. This is the story of a girl and her place in the grander scheme of things. This is Zen and Intent: A Nextgen Prequel.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there dear reader, welcome to a story I myself was not actually expecting to write. Zen and Intent is my return to Gamewizard2008's series of stories, the Gameverse. Set 5 years after the blockbuster epic 'Legend of the Eight Firstborn' and 15 before the Nextgen series of stories.**

* * *

On the Isle of Elements there dwells the keeper of history. A being older than you or I. The call him The Chronicler, because that's his job. In the great scheme of things there must always be a witness, a story teller, an author or speaker.

In his vast library of writings, The Chronicler keeps busy, viewing the many actions of our great heroes, Nigel Uno and his friends as well as the vast multiverse that surrounded them. In one corner of The Chronicler's library, there resided a purple and bronze book.

'Zen and Intent' it read.

"Hm." The Chronicler glanced out of the corner of his eye, catching sight of you. "Would you like to know the story of Zen and Intent?" He asked. "Well, have a seat." The Chronicler set his mighty quill aside on his desk and shut the current book title 'Legends', setting it aside for later.

The Chronicler took flight into his library, fetching the book 'Zen and Intent'. His mighty wings flapped and he landed before you. "I must warn you, this takes place right in the middle. After the Kids Next Door of old and their many adventures, but before there were Ten Firstborn."

"So." The Chronicler opened the book and began to read. "Five Years after the search for the Eight Firstborn…"

* * *

A young woman, a teenager with dyed purple hair and unusually gold eyes, wearing black skinny jeans and a purple hoodie, sat at the back of her Macro Economics class, doodling in her notebook rather than pay attention to today's lecture.

Around her notes, the girl drew pictures of fantastic treehouses. Ships and buildings, along with mighty telescopes stuck out of the treehouses. These were the treehouses she'd seen when she was a child. These pillars of imagination, with children just like her running around inside having the adventure of a lifetime.

The girl's name was Crystal Wickens. More than anything, she wanted to have an adventure just like them. The adventure of a lifetime. Five years ago, Crystal had stood aside with the rest of the world as those kids, the ones in those treehouses, saved the world.

From the Irkens, as the public would be informed. They halted their invasion and saved the world. And then those kids did it again, stopping the Demon King Malladus Uno. Then once more they fought Davy Jones and succeeded.

And then the greatest battle of all, Crystal and the people of Earth watched as eight children and their Firstborn saved the world. Though they would never know them, the world was indebted to them. All of reality was.

More than anything, as a child, Crystal wanted to be a member of the Kids Next Door.

"Crystal!" A harsh voice shouted.

"W-Wha?" Crystal practically jumped out of her seat. She looked up to find the Teacher looming over her.

Mrs. Rodski was as harsh as they came. Strict, merciless when it came to grading, and with a heart a scold as ice. She stood over Crystal with judging eyes. She averted her gaze to her notebook, spotting what appeared to be illustrations, and not of anything related to the subject matter.

"Detention." Rodski said icily.

"B-But-" Crystal attempted to argue, only to be cut off.

"Detention!" Rodski screamed. She dug into her pants pocket and slammed a detention slip right onto the notebook. "Detention."

The bell rang and then the students began to pile out of class. Crystal quickly threw her books into her bag, amongst a purple and grey outfit, the kind some sort of vigilante would wear and odd mechanisms that could be scientific breakthroughs. Crystal quickly vacated the class like the others and was on her way to lunch.

Crystal made her way through the busy halls of James Woods High School, all in an attempt to reach her locker to deposit her books and retrieve her items for next class. She pushed her way through a kissing couple, finally reaching her locker. She dialed in her combo and opened it. She tossed in the Economics binder and drew her elective engineering textbook.

She closed her locker and turned to her left, ready to wait in a ten minute line for lunch. But t her surprise, Crystal found a familiar face in a wheelchair hanging around beside her, and she had a brown paper bag in hand.

"Here." The boy in the wheelchair offered

"What's this for?" Crystal opened the brown paper bag, finding a ham and cheese, mayonnaise sandwich residing within.

"Have you seen those lines?" The boy questioned. "Anyways, I owe you for last night. Thanks for the save."

"You'd have done the same for me." Crystal removed the sandwich from the bag and promptly edged some of the plastic wrap off of it, in order to take a bite. "Thanks though."

"Come on, let's go find the others." The boy in the wheelchair gestured for Crystal to follow him. And so Crystal walked, and the boy rolled to their destination.

If one were to look and see those two side by side, they'd assume nothing. Certainly, Crystal and this wheelchair bound boy were not a pair of rooftop jumping vigilantes who kept the streets of Quahog safe. That would be preposterous.

Reaching a secluded table at the High School's senior lawn, Crystal and the boy in the wheelchair joined their group of 'friends'. Admittedly, Crystal enjoyed most of their company, but for some, there was still some bad blood between them.

A few years back, when Crystal emigrated from the UK, Crystal found herself the subject of a rather strange form of bullying. She was new, the social circles had already formed. Of course they all needed someone to pick on. The outsider she was just happened to fit the bill.

So Crystal took a seat at the table, across from one of her tormenters. Gwen Tucker was her name, but she was also known by another, Numbuh 58. Imagine Crystal's surprise when she found out she used to be a member of the KND. It was one thing to be picked on some holier than thou cheerleader, but then to find out Gwen was essentially the person she'd wanted to be all her life, it felt like the ultimate betrayal.

But things simmered down since then. That boy in the wheelchair at the end of the table stuck up for her. And things slowly fell into place over time. The truth was, everyone at this table, other than Crystal, used to be a member of the Kids Next Door. All were acting TND operatives.

That made it easier for Crystal to swallow, to know Gwen didn't mean any of those hash things. She was supposedly infiltrating the ever elusive Candy Ring Cartel, a teen ninja run designer drug criminal empire which had since collapsed thanks to their efforts.

The assembled ten teens sat eating lunch, talking amongst themselves and discussing plans for the evening. On the side opposite of Crystal sat Gwen to the rest of the various former Decommissioning Squad operatives. Doug Murphy, the former Numbuh 59. Garret O'Neil, the former Numbuh 99. Catherine Lazarus, the former Numbuh 91. And beside her on the other end of table sat a boy with spiky hair with slightly blue skin named Yuki Crystal, the former Numbuh 1-Ice.

Beside Crystal sat the former Numbuh 832, a one handed, mohawk sporting boy named Josh Puncture. Beside him sat a pair of saimese twins, a couple of freshmen who used to be Numbuhs ½ and 2/4. And beside them sat a girl with curly black hair with a violin case, the former Numbuh 322 named Kayla Valera.

And aside from those ten seated at the table, there was the boy in the wheelchair at the end of the table. "I'd like to commend us for our efforts in the past seven months." The wheelchair bound boy said, quickly earning everyone's attention.

Crystal just stared with admiration as the boy spoke. "Together we bought down The Candy Ring. Something that was deemed impossible. But we did it." He smiled. "And because of us the streets are cleaner, crime rates have dropped and the children of Quahog can grow up in a city without fear."

"To us." Nolan York, the former Numbuh 2030, held up his bottle of water, forming a mock toast.

"To us." Yuki raised his drink, a slushy that had materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

And so they all began to raise their respective drinks, ranging from canteens of water to cans of soda they'd bought from one of the school's vending machines. "To us." Crystal smiled, finally feeling part of a social circle, an outsider no more. All thanks to the boy in the wheelchair.

"One month from today, we'll be graduating." Nolan said, causing a sudden feeling of dread to run down Crystal's spine. It had been crazy for Crystal, all these adventures in High School, all the good along with the bad, but mostly the good. She couldn't believe it was all ending. Everyone around her had their lives planned out beyond High School. But Crystal, she'd just assumed she'd be doing this forever. All this Teens Next Door business and the vigilante stuff. She never wanted it to end. But it was.

Crystal looked back up over to Nolan, snapping out of her dark thoughts. There he was, still talking. That proud smile on his face, the one that she adored. "I just want you all to remember the good times of High School, moments like these." He gestured to every one of them. "Those moments when you're surrounded by friends. And I hope you know all know you're loved and I wish you the best in your future endeavors."

"Oh hush Nolan, you're going me cry." Yuki playfully punched Nolan in the shoulder.

"I think I see a tear running down you cheek there, iceboy." Kayla joked.

The bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. "Alright. Back to it." Crystal murmured before they all got up and headed off to their next class.

* * *

"…And then after class, Crystal would spend her afternoon in Room 204, wasting an hour of her life in detention." The Chronicler read.

The Chronicler then looked to you, a sympathetic twinkle in his eye. "A word of warning, every story has its villain." He said before returning his gaze back to the book.

"That night…"

* * *

Nigel Uno, the bald hero, was walking home from his part time job at the local super market. Who would have guessed that the greatest KND operative would end up working at a SaveLot of all places. But he needed the money to buy gas and take Rachel out on dates.

Walking through the almost empty parking lot, an odd feeling began to creep up Nigel's spine. Being the KND's resident James Bond and Harry Potter, Nigel knew when to listen to his senses. Something was off.

Cautiously, Nigel approached his beat up Toyota corolla. And then, his ears picked up a light beeping. Nigel's eyes widened. Quickly, Nigel spun on his heels and made a run for it, using his fire bending powers to launch himself into a running start.

The beeping ended and then his car exploded. Nigel was clear off the blast zone, but was struck by his car door. Pushing his car door off, Nigel got back onto his feet and frowned at the sight of his wrecked car. "Dammit." Nigel frowned.

"I know right." A distorted voice spoke. Nigel turned and saw a figure wearing black full body motorcycle gear. "I'm just as disappointed as you are."

"What do you want?" Nigel glared at the figure as he pulled the Galaxia Sword out of the pocket dimension he stored it in. Nigel took a fighting stance, ready to get some payback for his car.

The figure glanced at the sword in Nigel's hands. "Alright." He nodded. "Next time when you don't have a god weapon." Without warning, the figure shot into the air, propelled by jets at the bottom of his boots.

Using his fire bending to superheat the air molecules around him Nigel took off into the air, giving chase after the figure. "Get back here!" Nigel shouted angrily. "Who are you?!"

"Sorry." The figure glanced over his shoulder, meeting Nigel's gaze. He pulled out a square compact device out of one of his pockets. "No Spoilers." He hit a button on the device, creating an explosive portal of green and purple.

The figure entered through the portal, which violently closed behind him resulting in a secondary explosion which sent out a shockwave. Nigel was shaken, a low electric pulse enveloped him, causing his motor functions to cease. Nigel began to spiral downward and was just about to land in traffic.

"The mortal world isn't done with you just yet, ma'an." The Grim Reaper swooped in on his scythe out of nowhere, snatching Nigel and his sword out of the air.

The Grim Reaper landed with Nigel in tow back in the parking lot. He set Nigel down and then promptly slapped him. "There, you're fixed. Get up."

Nigel shook his head, feeling a sudden urge to hurl. "What happened?" He asked groggily. "Grim? What are you doing here?"

"I didn't feel like going through a Game Over Screen, that's what." Grim shook his head, looking rather disappointed in Nigel. "Ah mean, come on ma'an. You're better that this! Who was the motor cycle fetish guy anyways?"

"I don't know." Nigel rubbed his head. He grabbed the Galaxia Sword and tucked it back into the pocket dimension. "I need to call this in." He looked up back to Grim. "You mind giving me a ride home?"

Grim sighed. "Get on." Nigel hopped onto the back of the scythe, and before he knew it, they were in the air.

* * *

 **I honestly don't remember what happened to the Galaxia Sword after Eight Firstborn, but the idea of Nigel just pulling it out of thin air whenever he needed it was just great. So I just went with that. The 'Game Over Screen' comment is a reference to Gamewizard's work, where when the characters would die, they get a game over scene until Grim revives them.**

 **Anyways, next chapter will be out soon. I've got a lot of active stories right now. As far as I could tell, this will be going on for at the most nine chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**And we're back!**

 **Just giving a shout out to Gamewizard2008 and KND Operative Numbuh 227. When writing the Numbuh58/Numbuh 59 interactions I refer to Numbuh 227's story 'A Murphy's Birth', which is also set in this universe.**

* * *

"Oh, you've returned!" The Chronicler exclaimed joyously. "Ready to hear more of that tale?" He asked, not caring if you said yes or no. The Chronicler pulled the book off his desk and opened to where he last left off.

"After the villain first appeared, we find ourselves back in Quahog the following day…"

* * *

For the boys and girls of the Rhode Island Teens Next Door, the weekend couldn't get her fast enough. Within their underground base, the TND busied themselves with relaxing, finishing last minute projects which were due the following Monday, and just enjoying each other's company.

But Crystal, the purple haired girl, found herself seated alone at one of the base's workstations. The base's layout had very few private rooms. It was made with the idea of creating a more fluid work environment, where the operatives got along and contributed to every meeting held. To that end, Crystal was seated right beside a rowdy game of foosball. Doug and Garret were locked in an intense game, none speaking, only grunting like testosterone filled animals.

And right over on the other side of the room, Kayla busied herself by cleaning her gear alongside Yuki. They were chatting about their exploits as costumed vigilantes. Yuki, having icepowers, was well on his way to becoming Larry Oldman's successor to the Coldman mantle. And news outlets had caught wind of Kayla's own exploits. The name Sharpshot rang an appealing bell.

Rack and Ruin were watching TV Gwen was supervising the foosball match as an unofficial referee. Catherine was out grabbing lunch. Mario Ramsey, a man in his early twenties, one of the sixth age Sector Q operatives, was off on monitor duty.

Crystal found herself tweaking the energy output on the only weapon she carried into battle. A staff resembling a witches' broom. The cosmetic appearance was designed to go with the whole magic motif she was playing at. The staff could fly, shoot out energy projectiles among other functions.

Putting the finishing touches on the staff, Crystal was caught unaware by the darkness pooling around her station. Out of the pitch black dark spot on the floor emerged a young woman around Crystal's age. Her hair was shaved on one side of her head, leaving the rest of her jet black hair and a stripe of blue locks pushed over to the left. She wore a white tank top underneath her black leather jacket that showed off her midriff along with a pair of ripped black cargo pants and black boots.

The girl's name was Danika Anderson, once known as Numbuh 13.6, she was one of the eight fabled Firstborn Guardians who saved the world five years ago. Beside her, out of the darkness, emerged Midna, the Firstborn Princess of Darkness. An impish sprite who hovered off the ground, Midna fluttered around Danika like some Cricket sitting on her shoulder.

"I can't get over how big of a dump this place is." Midna commented as she eyed the base.

"Relax Midna." Danika patted the Princess of Darkness on the back of her head, causing her to shrug off the almost alien form of attention. Danika looked around, finding her sudden appearance had not disturbed the goings on within the base. Danika then set her sights towards Crystal. Danika then stealthily approached Crystal from behind. Leaning over, Danika shouted into her ear. "Oi! Crystal what's up?!"

"Ah!" Crystal jumped out of her seat. The other operatives dropped what they were doing and looked over to see what was causing a commotion.

"…Hey Danika." Crystal groaned as she picked herself up off the floor.

"How's my purple haired witch girl doing?" Danika asked, throwing an arm around Crystal and pulling her close.

It was back way then when Crystal first got wrapped into this world of behind the scenes espionage and vigilantism when she first met Danika. It was like meeting the star quarterback of your favorite football team at first. Danika was a mystery to her, this anomaly that defied the laws of physics as she knew them. And to Danika, Crystal was another one of those souls Nolan saved from becoming something terrible.

A friendship sparked between them after Crystal's initial fangirling subsided. Danika lived elsewhere nut popped in every once in a while. But that was usually in order to see Nolan. Her presence now was unprecedented, this wasn't just a friend checking in, something was wrong.

"Danika." Gwen greeted the shadow bender as she and Doug approached. "You're looking good. Trying something new?" Gwen pointed to Danika's hair.

"My brother said I could rock a punk look. Little turd owes me a twenty." Danika smirked. But then that brief joy in her eyes flickered, there were pressing matters to discuss and no time for her brand of off color jokes. "Something just came up back in Virginia. Everyone's getting called in."

"Everyone's getting called in where?" Kayla asked as she and Yuki walked up to join the group as they crowded around Crystal's workstation.

Danika just looked at Kayla. Crystal couldn't help but notice that whenever Kayla and Danika were in the same room, Danika was always on edge, like she felt threatened for some reason.

* * *

"I may have had a part in that." The Chronicler looked up from the book and shrugged sheepishly.

* * *

"Someone just took a shot at Nigel Uno. The KND, TND and our adult allies are on high alert." Danika answered tensely. "Grab your gear people. We're heading out."

The TND operatives and Crystal nodded in understanding. Nigel Uno was the Hero of the KND. This wasn't a matter one should take lightly. So they all ran off to grab all their trademark weapons and, in the case of Crystal, to go and change into their colorful vigilante outfits.

When they all reconvened in the main room, Danika was all set to go before realizing they were missing a certain wheelchair bound boy whom she had quite the history with. "Any of you know where my boyfriend is?" Danika asked aloud. "You guys better not have lost him."

"I just called him." Yuki said as he walked back into the room, now wearing a blue cloak and hood with a white paintball mask. "He said to give him thirty minutes then he'd meet us here."

"No time!" Danika declared. A dark void snaked through the floor, sucking Danika and the others within it. "Hold on tight guys, it's a little weird the first time around!" Danika shouted as everyone present submerged into the shadow.

"Hey guys I'm back, I brought tacos for everyone!" Catherine shouted as she walked into the room. Out of the still present shadow lashed out a tendril that snatched up Catherine and pulled her in. The former Decommissioning Squad operative flailed around screaming as she was engulfed in darkness.

Now sitting comfortably on a flat green lawn, in front of a one floor house, Catherine continued to scream. Her eyes were firmly shut and her hold on the bag of tacos was even firmer.

"Catherine." Crystal, now dressed in her Wiccan outfit, called out to the screaming girl. "Catherine?" She called out once more, hoping the girl would shut up.

"Hey, you!" Midna popped up in front of Catherine and slapped her. "This is a residential area! Quit disturbing the home owners! Gosh." Catherine opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Midna just floated over to Danika and shook her head. "A lousy lot these bunch are."

"Ease up." Danika elbowed Midna. "We're here." The shadow bender pointed at the home in front of them, the York household.

"Why didn't you just pop us inside?" Yuki asked as he rubbed his bruised behind.

"I'm many things, Yuki." Danika said as she marched up to the house's front door. "A philistine, I am not." Danika then calmly rang the doorbell.

Danika just waited patiently as the rest of the TND operatives began to crowd around the door. The door opened and there stood a woman much older than any of the teens, but none dared bring up mention of her age.

"Oh hi Danika." Ms. York greeted the assembled group with a smile. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

"I've been busy, Mrs. York. Fighting the Agents of Chaos, sliding sideways through the multiverse and getting my driver's license." Danika waved hello. "We're all here to see Nolan."

"Please come in." Mrs. York stepped aside, allowing the ten plus teens to enter. "Nolan's in his room, down the hall the door to the right."

The operatives marched into the house. For some it was the first time they'd ever stepped through that door. For others, it was the first in a long time. There was history within these halls. Crystal had mostly heard stories, half expecting maybe her crime fighting partner would tell her himself.

In these very halls, Nolan was forced to choose between his mother and the Kids Next Door. The Brain had forced his hand and he'd sold them out. That was after he'd gone bad, when he was on the road to redemption. Crystal always wanted to ask the boy about it during those nights when staking out The Candy Ring. But she never got the nerve.

Danika led them to Nolan's room. Crystal noticed a sly smile edging its way on her face. Unlike earlier, when Danika was courteous enough to ring the doorbell, she simply opened the door and stepped right on into the room.

"Guys, what the hell?" Nolan asked as they all began to funnel into his room. There, sitting in his wheelchair, was Nolan. Except he was shirtless. Danika just smiled to herself and nodded with approval. "I said thirty minutes. You couldn't give me thirty minutes?"

But his query fell on deaf ears. Although the young man didn't know it, those apart of the opposite gender present couldn't help but ogle Nolan's upper body. Crystal was among them, eyes wide, mouth hanging open ever so slightly.

"Mind waiting outside while I finish getting ready?" Nolan pointed to the door. One by one they all vacated the room, leaving only Danika. "Mind getting a little privacy?" Nolan asked once more.

"What? Nothing I haven't seen before." Danika winked. "But I'm feeling merciful today." She said before taking her leave out the door. There was a noticeable sway of her hips, causing Nolan to redden like a tomato.

"You planned that didn't you?" Yuki asked, earning a wicked smile from Danika as conformation.

"Ay dios mio…" Kayla said as she fanned herself with her hand. This also had the unintentional effect of dampening Danika's mood.

Crystal just stood there against a wall, doing her best to hide her embarrassed face. "Um…muscles…" She laughed lightly.

"So many…abs…" Catherine drooled.

"He's in a wheelchair, how is he so toned?" Gwen grimaced. Her eyes darted to Doug. "You could learn thing from him."

"Hey!" Doug protested. "I'm toned. And you and I both know you like my-"

"Keep it PG." Josh spoke threateningly, gesturing to the much younger Rack and Ruin.

All bodies turned at the sound of the bedroom's door creaking open. There in the doorway was Nolan. But what came to a shock to everyone, was that he was not in his wheelchair. He was standing.

"Dude…" Garret's jaw dropped.

"How?" Crystal asked aloud.

Nolan dug into the pockets of his khaki cargo pants, withdrawing what looked like a vial with green liquid in it. "My spine's been out of whack since Lizzie crushed my legs. Electrical impulses were being sent out but nothing was getting through. This little something I whipped up clears whatever blockage is in my system. I can walk but I have to keep taking the serum."

"You've been experimenting on yourself again." Danika crossed her arms over her chest in disapproving manner.

"But this time I succeeded." Nolan smiled brightly. "Hey mom!?" Nolan called out loudly. "I'm going out!"

"Make good choices!" Mrs. York shouted back.

"Okay honey! Make good choices!" Mrs. York called back.

"Take us away, Danika." Nolan said. But Danika was already ahead of them. Darkness consumed the hallway and the TND operatives slipped downwards into darkness once more.

Where they pooped out once more, Crystal couldn't believe her eyes. The Rhode Island TND forces found themselves in New York City, in the Kids Next Door Super Convention Center.

"Everyone grab yer seats. We're about ta start." A red headed girl with a scottish brogue announced from onstage.

Crystal and the others made their way through the crowds of KND, TND, and various other allies.

"Hey Patton." Danika called out to the former Numbuh 60 as they walked on by. "Sup Olive. Hey there Kami. Oh hey Emily! Emily Matthews! Haven't seen you in forever!"

They all found themselves some seats and then it began. Down below on the coliseum floor, on the stage stood Rachel T. McKenzie, possibly the greatest Supreme Leader the KND had ever had.

"Thank you all for coming today." Rachel said, addressing all in attendance. "But today I bring grievous news. As you all have probably heard, Nigel Uno was attacked by an unknown assailant. But that's not all. Last night, Kuki Sanban and Wally Beatles, our friends, were kidnapped. We believe by the same man."

The jumbo screens up above began to blare alive. All turned their attention upwards as someone forced a live transmission.

"Good afternoon. I am The Figure." The Figure announced as the screen's resolution evened out.

There was a number of gasps in the audience, more so among the Rhode Island group than any other. "Who's The Figure?" Crystal asked Danika. But Danika's attention was firmly pressed on the screen. Crystal turned to Nolan for answers, but instead of that confident smile on his face, she found a look of pure terror. She then looked around, sighting similar looks on Josh, as well as the saimese twins Rack and Ruin. "Who's The Figure?"

"Last night I tried to kill your hero. Nigel Uno." The Figure said darkly. "But, as it was, he wouldn't go quietly. So instead, I've decided to set up a little game." The Figure stepped out of the camera's line of sight, revealing the unconscious forms of Wally Beatles and Kuki Sanban bound and gagged against what appeared to be a bomb. "Found these two lovebirds at the movies."

"What do you want?!" Nigel shouted.

"I want to kill you." The Figure said a matter of fact. "But when a guy pulls out the weapons he notoriously only uses when he's saving the world, you know you can't take him head on."

"So, as I figure. I can't fight you head on, I'll just have to get you through your friends." The Figure stepped back into the camera's view. He held up what appeared to be a remote control. He tapped a button on the remote, causing the timer on the bomb to begin to count down. "You now have five hours until they die, Nigel. Please try to save them."

And with that, the televisions all short circuited. The assembled operatives, both current and former and their associates just sat there with wide eyes. Time was counting down on their friends, the former Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4.

So Rachel took to the stage like the leader she was. She took ahold of the microphone and shouted. "KIDS NEXT DOOR! BATTLESTATTIONS!"

And with that, the race was on.

* * *

 **And so ends this chapter of Zen and Intent. I hope I wrote Danika right. I just imagine her being this force of nature in her teen years, all wild and too willing to make mistakes. And addressing the 'Nolan is walking' thing. He's still in a wheelchair in the Nextgen series, don't worry, him walking isn't permanent.**

 **My next update will be whenever I have time. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And we're back! Welcome to the 3rd chapter of Zen and Intent! Sorry this was a bit late. But I usually am.**

* * *

"Ah yes, back again for more, hm?" The Chronicler huffed on a grand pipe. He drew the pipe away and blew smoke, allowing the dark misty puff to engulf the area between you and him. The Chronicler then reached over to his desk, reclaiming the book 'Zen and Intent'.

The Chronicler then sat back in his chair, flipping through the pages in search of where he'd last left off. "…battle stations…" He huffed on his pipe once more as he caught back up with the story.

"Yes, now I remember." The Chronicler smiled, turning the page once more. "This might get trippy, but after mobilizing those allied with the KND, the next part of our story takes place in space…"

* * *

Sitting in darkness, with his legs crossed and hands resting oh so casually on a long staff seated on his lap, sat a young man with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. His name was Jagar King, the Ghost of Time.

He glanced from the clock that hung off his chain necklace then upwards at the large blue marble that was Earth rotating still in space.

The distant stars shined bright, twinkling off out there amongst the void. But it was the blue marble up above that would always amaze Jagar. He'd been to Mars, stood on its moons Phobos or Deimos and just watched it spin. He'd floated through Jupiter, sat on Pluto and trudged through Neptune.

But all the universe paled in comparison to Earth.

"What a beautiful world we live in." He said to himself. There was a light sound in his coat pocket, a sudden feeling as if his pocket contents were dancing around. Jagar moved to investigate, quickly reaching into his coat and removing a communicator with the letters 'KND' scratched onto the side.

"Hm." Jagar muttered thoughtfully. "I think I'm running a little late." He chuckled softly at the irony of the situation.

Jagar then flipped the communicator open and answered the call. "Jagar King, Ghost of Time." He said with grace. The voice on the other end of the call spoke, sounding flabbergasted. Having no time to waste, Jagar quickly sped to the end of the conversation with a wave of his staff.

"I'll be there in a minute." He said before blinking through a ghost portal that materialized behind him.

* * *

Back down planet side, in the KND Sooper Convention Center. An hour had passed since The Figure issued his ultimatum. In less than four hours Kuki and Wally would be dead, unless they found them first. Locating the former Sector V operatives should've been a trivial matter. Hoagie had made himself a tracker that zeroed in on genetic material a while ago. While this had the unsettling side effect of putting Benedict Uno into a position of power in the KND, it gave them the tools to locate anyone in the world.

But when they slapped in some genetic material belonging to Kuki or Wally, from hairbrushes and a year old gum wad the aussie had been working on in his spare time, everyone was shocked to find there were over three thousand blinking dots on a map of the planet. Anyone of those dots could've been Kuki or Wally.

Rachel was on point. Even after her tenure as Supreme Leader had ended, the girl had never missed a beat. Organizing search party after search party was trivial to her now. She used to find it difficult, managing others, but time had passed and now it was as if her brain moved faster than any other's.

It also didn't hurt that she had help of course.

"How we doing on your end Fi?" Rachel glanced away from the multitude of high definition video calls to the spirit that resided within the Master Sword.

Fi floated in place, managing an entire row of communicate with search party leaders. There had been thousands in attendance today and all had dispersed in teams of five around the globe.

"Patton Drilovsky sends his regards from Vancouver." Fi answered without taking her eyes off the screens. "Reports coming out from Istanbul, Cairo and Paris. No signs so far."

Rachel frowned. They'd been at it for an hour and still produced no results. Every second was just as unbearable as the next. Her friends were out there and they could die.

"Ava and Kweeb have called in, offering their assistance." Fi said, snapping Rachel out of her thoughts. "They are observing the planet from afar, perhaps their outside perspective will help."

"Sounds good. Tell them thank you." Rachel said, folding her arms over her chest and signaling Carol Pariuhs and her team to double check Seattle.

"We're going to find them, right?" Rachel glanced over her shoulder, spotting her boyfriend Nigel and the rest of Sector V stepping into the room.

Rachel sighed, taking a moment to gather her bearings and divide her mind from the constant series of troop assignment from her fear for her friends. "We'll find them. We can't fail. They're our friends. We're going to get them." Rachel resolved.

"We're narrowing down the search one look see at a time." Fi said as another team led by Violet McCleary checked in, reporting the New York location to be a dead end.

"How's it on the western front?" The remnants of Sector V looked to discover Nolan standing behind them. The Sector Q operative couldn't help but smile at their reactions at his actually standing again.

"The surprises just keep on rolling." Hoagie whistled, pointing at Nolan's legs. "Did you finally go bionic? And why wasn't I informed?"

Abby just slapped Hoagie in the back of his head and wagged her finger in his face. "Chill." Abby then turned to Nolan pointing over at the multiple video calls Rachel and Fi were managing. "Getting it done, but Abby wishes we could get this done a bit faster."

Nolan smirked. "Huh. I think I've got someone who could help with that."

Crystal let out a saddened sigh. Here she was amongst her childhood heroes, sitting where they would eat, where they would work. But instead of gushing around them or asking for autographs, or even helping them in search of their kidnapped comrades, Crystal and the rest of the Rhode Island crew found themselves sitting in the Convention Center's staff room.

It was a disappointing sight. Most of the team just continued conversations of past, mostly about what they intended to do after High School. There was a pang against Crystal's chest, a pit in her gut and weight pressed against her skull.

She'd come along way, crossing over the pond, landing on the east coast. She'd struggled with the news of her brother's death, overcame the tiresome lisp of hers, dealt with the cruelty of her peers and even served justice on the streets of Quahog. Crystal had created objects of science that bent notions of normalcy on their knees.

Crystal, just some kid from the UK, could defy gravity itself. But she couldn't overcome the dread she felt with every passing second. "Heading to college myself, got my acceptance letter a week ago." Said Gwen, Crystal's once former tormentor and, she guessed, somewhat sort of friend.

"Impressive." Said Yuki, the boy who bend ice. "I got myself an internship lined up back home, in Iceland." He smirked. "Give it five years, I'll be making bank. Give it thirty years, I can retire leisurely."

"How about you Captain Hook? Got any plans?" Doug asked, turning to Josh.

"West Point." Was all Josh said before going back to fiddling around with his prosthetic harpoon launcher.

Crystal frowned as her companions carried on with their conversation. It was just another reminder of how little she had going on in her life. It was sad really, Crystal thought. This girl who could create such devices of wonder, who existed in a world where the impossible occurred every day, now stood in judgment of tomorrow.

"Ugh. This is getting us nowhere." Danika remarked. "We should be out there looking. Midna and I could be zipping around the world, helping move operatives and what not."

"I'm never carrying this many people again after the days over." Midna said as she investigated the staff room's cabinets, looking for something to snack on. "Crummy snack room."

"So why're we still standing around jabbering on why'll everyone's out there putting in a good day's leg work?" Doug asked, reclining in his chair.

"Because some of ours have unprecedented experience with this mask wearing lunatic." Gwen pointed at Josh and the saimeses twins Rack and Ruin at the other end of their table. "What are we dealing with?"

"The last time I went toe to toe with this guy, I got put into a coma." Josh shrugged as he inspected his harpoon prosthetic. "Anyways, I could've swore he was dead."

"That was years ago." Rack rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

"A lot of bad things happened that week." Ruin muttered somberly.

The staff room door slid open, catching the attention of many in the room. They all looked over and found Nolan standing in the hallway. "Crystal, top brass is need of your skills." He called into the room.

Crystal snapped out of her self-loathing thoughts, looking up from where she sat. All eyes were on her. So she stood up, grabbing her staff and throwing her hood back on, she had a secret identity to keep after all.

"Good luck, Crystal." A heart round of voices spoke up from the assembled bunch of KND allies.

"Top brass?" Crystal made a confused face. "Since when did we start answering to authority?"

"Sorry. Just an old habit." Nolan laughed at his absent mindedness. "I too orders from the boss lady for so long, you know." He shrugged.

Crystal quickly logged out of the computer and sat up. "Boss Lady?" She asked.

"Rachel T. McKenzie." Nolan answered as he walked to the rooms door and held it open, allowing Crystal to pass unimpeded. "I'm sure I've mentioned her before."

"The Supreme Leader of the KND during the Benders Dawn incident?!" Crystal asked, brightening up from her rather dower mood.

"Yeah, her." Nolan nodded as he led the way to the command room.

"I heard she's a descendant of Link." Crystal's inner fangirl emerged. "Any chance I can get her autograph?"

"I can't promise anything." Nolan said as they entered an elevator, which carried them down to the floor where the command room was located. "Rachel's in full on war mode. You might have better luck asking her later."

The elevator came to a stop. The doors opened and the duo stepped into the command room. The entire floor was a work station. There were no walls dividing it up, just rows and rows of work stations that were currently unmanned.

Nolan led Crystal further into the command room, where the remnants of Sector V, Rachel and Fi were currently standing around the many video calls.

"Ms. Wiccan, thank you for coming. Your assistance is very much appreciated." Nigel Uno stepped forward and greeting Crystal with a handshake.

"The pleasure's all mine." Crystal couldn't help but smile like an idiot as she shook the bald brit's hand. Standing before her was her heroes. And they were everything she expected them to be. "Now, what do you need me to do exactly?"

"Numbuh 2." Nigel signaled his friend over.

"Follow me." Crystal complied, following the pilot. Hoagie led the way over to a nearby desk beside a map of the world with several thousand points marked on it. There was a strange machine on the desk. It was green with exposed wiring. There were two dishes covered in tinfoil with black and blond hair resting on them. The tinfoil themselves were connected to a mini transmitter which, from what Crystal deduced, was sending out information to orbiting KND satellites.

"I'm telling you, it's as narrow a search it's going to get." Hoagie said, not directed at Crystal but to Nigel. "I keyed it myself. This is the max I can push it."

"What's it do?" Crystal asked as she slowly analyzed Hoagie's invention.

"It's a DNA coder. Based off the C.O.D.E.M.O.D.U.L.E." Hoagie said simply. "See those hair samples? They belong to our friends." He turned to face Crystal fully. "Give it a shot if you'd like, but that's the best it's going to get."

"Scared she'll succeed at something you couldn't?" Abby said coolly. "Five bucks she does it."

"You're on."

Crystal shrugged and gave it a shot. The whole basis of the device was that it could literally pinpoint atoms from space, spot genetic material and isolate it. Crystal decided to push the machine to the next level.

"Atoms have a half-life." Crystal said as she fiddled around with the machine's wiring. "I'm repurposing your machine. Humans create new skin particles all the time. The machine should now be looking for DNA that hasn't decayed just yet."

The assembled group of teen operatives glanced to the map of the globe. In an instant, the satellites in orbit shot down new information, causing almost all points on the map to vanish, leaving behind ten possible locations left in the world.

"Give Abby her five." Abby stuck out her hand. Hoagie grumbled something about it being rigged as he dug into his pocket and extracted the cash he owed and handed it to the red cap wearing teen.

"Excellent work." Nigel smiled. "Our next course of action is to now investigate each of these sights."

"What if they're booby-trapped?" Hoagie said as he leaned against a desk. "No offense, but what if this is just some sort of deception. Whoever we're dealing with has gone through a lot of effort to make this search damn well near impossible."

"For all we know, Kuki and Wally might not even be at any of the spots we marked." Abby said grimly.

"Hm." The bald brit nodded. "Yes. No need to get everyone's hopes up." Nigel turned and walked away from the group, leaving the four operatives by themselves as he made his way to talk with Rachel privately.

"What's going on?" Crystal asked, noticing the humorous looks on Abby and Hoagie's faces.

"He has to go and get permission from his girlfriend." Hoagies struggled to stifle his laugh.

"Boy's whipped." Abby smirked. "Anyways, thanks girl." She said, extending her hand to Crystal in thanks.

"It was nothing. The least I could do." Crystal smiled back as she shook Abby's hand.

"We have locations. Ten to be exact." Nigel whispered to Rachel as Fi managed all incoming communique. "We're dealing with an unknown adversary who's managed to hack into KND broadcasts, kidnap two well trained operatives and set up an elaborate game of hide and seek. Sending in everyone isn't the best exactly the smartest move to make."

"Agreed." Rachel nodded. "Take a team, whoever you can scrounge up, anyone who isn't involved with the search at this moment. The element of surprise is ours. If you find The Figure, nail him. But first and foremost our main priority is rescuing our friends."

"Agreed." Nigel nodded and then turned to walk away. The bald brit then made his way back to the four teens he'd left hanging. He gave them a thumbs up. "Hoagie, get the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., we're leaving in ten." Nigel said, quickly mobilizing the units at his disposal. "Abby, Nolan, spread the word, gather who you can and tell them to report in the Hangar. We're rescuing our friends."

"You got it, boss." Abby saluted before she and Hoagie ran off to fulfil their assignments. Nigel walked off, returning to converse with Rachel, leaving only Nolan and Crystal.

"So, are we going to get up or something?" Crystal turned to Nolan, who was standing there calmly, arms crossed. She was half expecting the boy to relish in the opportunity to get some mileage out of legs again, to run off and quickly gather the rest of their friends from the Staff Room and head off on their next great adventure.

But instead, Nolan just stood there, staring down at the ground. "You get that Danika?" Nolan asked aloud, deeming the coast was clear.

Out of the ground, out of the murkiness of horribly lit room, popped Danika's head. "Hear everything. I'll relay the message to everyone and we'll be on our way."

"Thanks dear." Nolan said as his girlfriend submerged back into the shadows. He just watched as Danika's shadowy form zipped across the floor, quickly speeding back to speak with their friends. Nolan then turned to find Crystal staring at him, her eyes wide in surprise. "What?"

"How long was Danika here?" Crystal asked, her eyes cautiously glancing over at Nigel and Rachel, who both appeared to have missed Danika.

"You see these private meetings behind closed doors." Nolan gave a nod over to Rachel and Nigel. "Once upon a time, Rachel made a call that cost me and others dearly. I've forgiven her and Nigel for it since, but I will never forget."

"This coming from the guy who used to work for The Brotherhood of Evil?"

"You think they've forgotten either?" Nolan scoffed. "This is a dirty world we live in, Crystal. Sometimes it pays to be a little paranoid. Anyways what's really got you bugged, Crystal?" Nolan asked his partner in vigilantism. "Don't deny it. I'm a study of human moves, kid. I put together The Prospectors, every iteration and supervised their mental health like any real leader should. I know when somethings crawling under someone's skin. So now's the time to talk."

Crystal glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. "The others talking about their college plans. Got me feeling down. So I'm doing what I do best."

"You suddenly averse to the pursuit of higher education, Ms. Tech Wizard?" Nolan raised a brow skeptically.

"No, no more power to them." Crystal quickly waved her hands up in the air defensively. The last thing she wanted was to sound like a hypocrite. "It's just…we're graduating. And there Doug and Gwen go, talking about their promising futures at their respective colleges. Josh is going into the military. Yuki's got his internship. And unlike anyone else I don't have any bloody plans."

"I just don't want any of this to end." Crystal let out a tired sigh. "All this fun stuff, this kid stuff. Stopping bad guys and having adventures. It's all I've ever wanted and more. I don't want it to be the end."

Nolan shifted in his feet. He quickly changed his dark tone, doing his best to muster the thoughtfully reassuring voice Crystal needed to hear. "It never ends Crystal. Tomorrow's always going to be there."

"What are you doin' anyways. After you cross stage?" Crystal asked curiously.

"Looking into real estate in Oregon." Nolan stated simply before gesturing for them to leave the command room. "Besides that, nothing much."

"Just the same old, same old?" Crystal jumped out of her seat and followed her partner out of the room.

"Leap of a rooftop and catch myself. Stop a bank robber. Save a cat out of a tree." Nolan said, causing the pair to erupt in laughter.

"Hey Nolan wait up!" Some boy with a bad haircut shouted as he quickly jogged up beside them, catching up with the pair of vigilantes.

"Who's this guy?" Crystal asked just out of boy's hearing range.

"Totally Not Dib Membrane, expert in the paranormal, amateur xenotologist, and ex companion of Nigel and his friends during their original adventures. Before the Eight Firstborn incident." Nolan said as Not-Dib caught up with the pair. "Hey Not-Dib, your sister not coming? I could've swore I saw here hanging around here."

"I asked if she wanted to tag along. But she told me to eat dirt and die." Not-Dib gave simple shrug as if it were nothing. "Oh well, her loss. I haven't been on a real adventure in years."

"You're excited to rescue a pair of our captured colleagues and fight some masked dude with a bomb?" Crystal said, laughing at how absurd she made the situation sound.

"Oh, I haven't met you before. Not-Dib, Totally Not-Dib Membrane." Not-Dib reached around Nolan, extending a hand and greeting Crystal.

Crystal smiled and shook the young man's hand. "Wiccan."

"That a handle?" Not-Dib asked as they reached the hangar.

"Afraid so. Some of us round here have secret identities." Crystal said coyly.

The three KND allies boarded the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2, a 2x4 shuttle modified for TND usage. The engines were red hot primed for take off.

"We were wondering when you all were going to show up." Kami Drilovsky, Patton's twin sister called out to the trio as she took a seat.

The transport was packed with few seats remaining open. The makeshift team was comprised mostly out of the Rhode Island crew. Kami, Olive Pioji, and the rest of Sector V made up the rest of the team.

Danika began to stand up, about to wave a hand and call over Nolan. Only for Not-Dib to run and quickly snatch up the seat she'd saved. Danika stared at Not-Dib, dumbfounded by his actions. On the other side of the ship, Kayla stood up and called out to Nolan and Crystal, gesturing to the two seats she'd saved for them.

Danika shook her head and shot Kayla a dirty look. "That bitch…" She mouthed.

"Alright, attention everyone." Nigel called into the cabin. "Our mission is to find our missing comrades and subdue this foe of ours. Any questions?" No one raised a hand. "None at all?" Still no reply. "Uh…okay. Punch it Numbuh 2!" Nigel shouted before taking the command chair and strapping in.

"Hold onto your underwear!" The pilot shouted before the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 shot out of the hangar, its destination one of ten possible locations.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It went through several drafts. No, seriously, it went through three drafts before I decided to settle on this. I just had to include Totally Not-Dib, he was along for the ride for most of the series, he just had to show up. We'll get more on what Jagar's doing later. Next time, the gang meets The Figure.**

 **My next update will be later. I'm going out of town for a while over the coming weeks. Say next Saturday there might be an update seeing with what I get done. Well, anyways. As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Later days!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh boy this one was a doozie. Well I got it done. I hope you enjoy it. I'm tired.**

* * *

"Ah yes, you've returned once more!" The Chronicler rejoiced at the sight of your presence. "For the longest time I thought you were getting tired of listening to an old soul such as myself run his gums off." The Chronicler chuckled.

He returned from an odd section of his massive library, one where only one book occupied the space. It had the picture of a Thrush on the cover.

The Chronicler took a seat back at his desk, quickly reclaiming 'Zen and Intent' from where it lay. Thanks to the foresight of leaving a bookmark, The Chronicler quickly flipped the pages to where he last left off.

"So after checking the eighth possible location for Kuki and Wally…"

* * *

With only an hour left on the clock, the crew of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 was getting restless. After searching eight of ten possible sights, and coming up empty handed, things were looking rather bleak.

"Why couldn't we have split up for this?" Olive asked aloud as she and the others gathered around to decide of which of the two remaining locations to hit next.

"We're dealing with an unknown individual with bombs." Nigel said, recalling his firsthand experience in the parking lot of his employment. "There was no way we were going to risk hundreds of us. No leader can make that choice soundly."

"Splitting up would've also been detrimental." Abby said as she manned the communications array. "With only this small a team, any of us would be easy pickings all by our lonesome."

"So, we've got less than sixty minutes before the bomb goes off." Crystal asked from where she sat, beside Kayla and Nolan. "Which of the two sights do we hit next?"

Doug reached into his pocket, producing a quarter. "What're you doing?" Gwen asked, raising a brow at her boyfriend's actions.

"Heads we proceed to the ninth point on our map. Tails we skip right to the tenth." Doug said before flipping the coin upwards. "Call it."

"Tails." Gwen said as the coin slammed against the ceiling and then fell back to the metal floor. It clattered, it clanged, and then the coin came to a final stop, landing on the tail end of the quarter.

"Looks like we're skipping to the end." Doug muttered coolly as he reclaimed his coin.

"Alright everyone, strap in!" Hoagie shouted from the cockpit. "I'm kicking this thing into high gear. We have no time to waste!"

And in the blink of the eye, the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 shot across the sky, almost vanishing from sight. Across the globe the crew raced, from where they had originally been in East London, they soon found themselves in California of all places.

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 arrived in Los Angeles of all places. They passed over the point on their map, a large rundown factory. It had once produced cars, but now it appeared to be gathering dust, waiting for the next real-estate developer to come on by and make something out of it.

"That look like an evil lair to anyone?" Crystal asked aloud as she looked out one of the 2x4 ship's windows.

"Give it another round, Numbuh 2." Nigel called up to the cockpit. "Thermal imaging is picking up some heat signatures."

"How many?" **Totally Not Dib Membrane** asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Nigel was about to answer Not-Dib with a definite answer, until his computer display went wonky. "Somethings wrong." Nigel declared as thermal imaging was mucked up with what appeared to be thermal clouds. "I had it and I lost it."

"That doesn't just happen out of nowhere." Nolan spoke up. "This is the place."

"Agreed." Nigel nodded. "Bring us down for a landing, Numbuh 2!"

"Aye, Aye Captain!" Hoagie saluted before bring the ship into a slow descent.

Down below on the surface, on the roof of the foundry, The Figure stood hidden in the shadow of a massive smoke stack. The motorcycle gear wearing teen just watched as the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed at the base of the building.

The Figure reached for a switch on the side of his helmet, activating his communicator. "They're here."

Nigel stepped out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. first, flanked by Nolan and Abby to his left and right. Soon the others piled out, leaving only Hoagie behind with the ship. "Bring the ship back up. I want air cover incase things get dicey." Nigel ordered.

"Copy that!" Hoagie shouted before pulling the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 back into the air.

"Alright, let's move inside." Nigel said, quickly taking command. The teams produced their various weapons and began to move inside.

For a moment Crystal took the lead. There was a small flicker of excitement in her gut. But her excitement opened her up to the jump scare of a lifetime. Crystal walked face first into the back of a staff wielding man, causing her to yelp.

"Ah!" Crystal jumped backwards, causing everyone to instantly pull their weapons in the direction of the noise.

"Ah, there you all are." Jagar King, the Ghost of Time, waved at the assembled teenagers with a cheerful smile. "You're late."

"Jagar?!" The assembled group of teens lowered their weapons, still puzzled with the boy standing before them.

"Oh wait am I late?" Jagar's smiled faded, replaced with a look of worry. "This time business is a little on the confusing side. We're looking for Kuki and Wally still right? I didn't pop in a month later again did I?"

"We're looking for Kuki and Wally, yes." Nolan spoke up for the group.

"Ah yes, good." Jagar said with his pleasant attitude returning. "Well then let's crack on shall we?"

The group then resumed entering the foundry, with Jagar joining them, walking beside Yuki. They entered a large room filled with out of use equipment, left behind to rust and gather dust. But over in the corner, something caught Abby's eye.

"There they are." Abby pointed to the very center of the room.

There they were, Kuki and Wally, terribly beaten, but by the looks of it still breathing. Tied to a large bomb, the team hesitantly approached, lest it go off. The countdown, however, begged to differ. They had time by the looks of it.

"Cut them loose." Nigel ordered, pointing for Gwen and Doug to rush over to their side.

Gwen produced a pair of wire cutters and snapped through the rope that bound their friends to the bomb. Pulling them away from the bomb, all were caught unaware the stunning ring of a gunshot. Everyone looked around, their eyes widening at the realization that Jagar had been shot.

"Medic!" Yuki shouted as he cradled his childhood friend.

"Ah!" Jagar screamed out as he bled.

"Huh. I actually thought he was a ghost. All eyes turned to see The Figure stepping out of darkness, a smoking gun in hand. "Oh well. That's just one less of you for me to worry about."

"I've been waiting for a rematch." Nigel cracked his knuckles.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a streak of fire swept through the team, separating Nigel from the others. Out of the shadows beside The Figure stepped a large hulking man wearing flame retardant armor with a fuel pack on his back and a flamethrower in hand.

"I apologize. But your fight is with me." The man spoke menacingly. Rack and Ruin's eyes widened, recognizing the man. Having heard the twins' gasps, the man gave a hearty laugh. "Yes. It is I malformed children. Clarence."

"Alright, if he's here where's the other one?" Nolan glared at The Figure.

Up above amongst the scaffolding. A man in a white hoodie with a robot arm and a sniper rifle revealed himself. Without warning, the man began to rain down sniper fire at the team below. The man's shots were calculated, striking a nearby propane tank and knocking Midna into machinery, knocking out the firstborn, as well as tapping out Olive, essentially taking out the teams more powerful members.

"Ghost." Nolan sneered at the man above.

"Take cover!" Josh shouted as he and most of the other Rhode Island crew members ran from the oncoming sniper fire. Catherine and Abby busied themselves with pulling Kuki and Wally behind cover, while Kami pulled Jagar off to the corner to remove the bullet in his chest and halt his bleeding.

The oncoming weapons fire separated Gwen rom the others, leaving her beside the still active bomb. "Oh crap!" Gwen shouted as The Figure pulled out a remote control, causing the countdown to skip down to ten minutes.

Nigel stared up at the man, Ghost and prepared to fly upwards and knock him down onto equal footing. But the man with the flamethrower launched a wave of flammable gel, aiming to coat and set the bald brit ablaze. Nigel leapt back, avoiding a rather terrible demise.

Nigel prepared for a counter attack, only for Ghost to shoot another nearby propane tank, throwing Nigel through a wall, separating him further from the others. Clarence then sauntered off, following Nigel to another room.

"Hello there." The Figure addressed Nolan.

"The Figure died years ago." Nolan said as he faced The Figure. "Who are you?"

The Figure just laughed mockingly in response. The helmeted teen leapt from where he was perched up above, landing before the Rhode Island crew. "It doesn't matter who I am." The Figure said, maintain his mocking tone. "Does it?"

"No." Nolan muttered as he drew his gas gun. "Guess it doesn't."

Without warning, The Figure leapt into the air, one arm outstretch with a gun in hand, firing rapidly at the group while another fished into one of his pockets. The team dispersed, moving for cover. The Figure then produced a grenade and pulled the pin, tossing it in Danika's direction.

"Danika!" Nolan shouted in fear.

The grenade landed beside Danika's feet. Using her shadow veil, Danika managed to whisk herself away from harm as the grenade went off. Appearing behind Figure, Danika drew her twin daggers, aiming to stab the villain in the back.

The Figure quickly spun around, catching Danika by the wrist by his free hand. The teen villain then aimed to shoot the shadowbender in the gut, only for the intervention of a sniper shot to shatter the gun her held. Danika glanced out of the corner of her eye, spotting Kayla taking a moment away from her firefight with Ghost to come to her aid.

"Don't think that got you in my good graces." Danika murmured before kicking herself loose from The Figure's grasp.

"How the heck do I disarm this?!" Gwen shouted frantically as the bomb before her continued to count down.

"Cut the blue wire!" Doug shouted from behind cover while Kami did her best to halt Jagar's bleeding.

"What was that?!" Gwen held up to her ear as the loud explosions and gunfire overtook Doug's words. "Cut the what?!"

"Blue!" Doug screamed just before ducking behind cover once more as sniper shots struck the machine he hid behind. "Blue Wire! Blue Wire!"

"Dammit!" Kami cursed as a stray bullet struck the ground beside her. She then shook her head, not letting distractions get the better of her, Kami pushed on to save Jagar's life.

Nigel continued his fire battle on the other side of the foundry. The larger Clarence was as agile as the Demon Prince and wore a fire protective suit, which meant they were practically on equal footing. But that didn't mean they were. Seeing his opportunity arising, Nigel quickly dashed and slid under a conveyer belt.

Clarence spewed fire from his flamethrower after Nigel, but the younger teen was quicker than he. Nigel ran circles around Clarence. The bald brit picked up a small piece of scrap on the ground and quickly got behind the flamethrower wielding man. With all his might, Nigel chucked the scrap, piercing Clarence's fuel canister.

The leaking liquid soon caught fire. Quickly, Clarence detached the canister from his back and flung it with all his might. The subsequent explosion shook the entire foundry. Weaponless, Clarence was now just another villain. And Nigel had practice fighting them all.

Nigel ran in, his fists engulfed in flames. He jumped up and aimed to slam one good punch against Clarence's helmeted head. But Clarence's much larger hand caught Nigel's punch. The hulking Clarence stared down Nigel and scoffed.

Clarence then locked his hand on Nigel's and then slammed the bald teen onto the concrete surface. The armored man then began to race though the flame soaked foundry, running Nigel through all the discarded scrap and blazes he could.

The shootout with Ghost was taking a turn for the worst. Pinned down by sniper fire, Kayla couldn't get the angle she needed to make a difference. Any and all attempts to run out were shut down by the man up above with the sniper rifle. Garret had tried and now the poor teen was cradling his flesh wound behind a large apparatus.

"How's it going with the bomb?!" Kayla inquired. The whole lot of them were still pinned down with Gwen on bomb disarming duty.

"Blue right?!" Gwen asked for final confirmation as the bomb drew nearer to zero.

"YES!" The entire assembled group, including the wounded Jagar, Kuki and Wally shouted angrily.

"Alright!" Gwen sweated as she brought up the wire cutters once more. "Here goes nothing." She shut her eye before cutting the blue wire. As she hadn't blown up, Gwen opened one eye, finding the time had stalled at one minute and thirty two seconds to spare. "Whoo!" Gwen jumped to her feet and celebrated. A bullet from Ghost struck the ground beside her, causing Gwen to jump back behind the bomb.

"Oh come on!" Gwen shouted angrily as she now found herself using the bomb for cover. "This is the worst situation ever!"

The battle with The Figure went uninterrupted. Danika would pop in behind the helmeted Teen every once in a while, trying to get in close and stab the guy, but every time she did, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. The Figure would counter and send her flying, only for her to regroup with the others.

"Change of plans." Nolan said as Crystal, Danika, Yuki and Not-Dib rallied behind him. "Yuki, ice slide behind him. Danika to the ceiling. Crystal, Not-Dib, we're rushing from the front." Nolan relayed commands.

The assembled teens nodded and got to work. Back into the shadows Danika went. Her shadowy form dashed across the surface, followed by The Figure's merciless gaze. Soon, Yuki shot out of cover, creating an ice surface to slide on. And then shot out Nolan, Crystal and Not-Dib behind the icebender, rushing down the middle.

Yuki encircled The Figure, launching icicles at the teen. Danika emerged out of the ceiling, directly above The Figure and leapt down. Crystal leapt forward and swung her staff, launching a pulse of energy at the teen.

The Figure rotated slightly, dodging every one of Yuki's strikes. Danika slashed at the teen, chipping off a piece of his armor with his daggers. Before The Figure could return fire on the sahdowbender, Danika was gone, zipping across the floor. Crystal's energy strike heading straight at him. But The Figure dodged, now he was exactly where Nolan wanted him.

Nolan charged at him, engaging The Figure in hand to hand combat, causing him to drop his pistol. Using the techniques Wesley Dodds had taught him, Nolan aimed to overpower The Figure with quick punches, just to get him off balance. But The Figure maintained control of the situation, fighting back.

"Now!" Crystal shouted.

The Figure recoiled at the sight of a smirking Nolan. Not-Dib had gotten between the two and now was in close proximity of The Figure. His shock gloves charged, Not-Dib reached out and grabbed a hold of The Figure and electrocuted him. It should have taken only a light tap to knock The Figure out, hundreds of volts ran and through the gloves.

Not-Dib's victorious smirk was soon trounced by the unwavering resolve of The Figure. His polarized visor pierced into his soul and slowly the teen reached up and tapped Not-Dib on the chin. Lighting sprang out of The Figure's fingertip, shooting Not-Dib across the room.

Nolan just looked on, eyes wide at what The Figure had just done. "You're a lightning bender?"

"Does it matter?" The Figure muttered as electricity danced around his clenched fists.

Clarence tossed Nigel through rusted out equipment. The bald brit just picked himself up and glared at his opponent. But something was odd about his vision. The bald brit had realized he'd lost his sunglasses in all the commotion.

"Looking for these?" Clarence asked aloud, revealing Nigel's sunglasses were now in the palm of his hand. Clarence folded his hand, smashing Nigel's glasses to pieces.

"Oh you just goofed." Nigel muttered darkly. His whole body caught fire. Nigel sprouted inferno wings and shot at Clarence. He picked up the much larger Clarence and shot through the roof of the foundry.

Clarence's screams fell on deaf ears as a voice in Nigel's head implored that he murder the man. But Nigel shook his head of the idea. Seeing the moment of distraction in Nigel's eyes. Clarence pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin. After the explosion, one could see the two men falling back down to the Earth below.

"Danika hit him hard!" Yuki shouted as he dodged a bolt of lightning.

Danika took center stage as she called on her ultimate attack, her final smash. "Okay, Cheshire, time to eat." She muttered darkly. Cheshire, Danika's shadow sprang up out of the ground, taking on an enormous shaped.

Cheshire's wicked smile shown bright as it slammed down on The Figure, devouring him. But within Cheshire, right before the shadow could turn him into just another smudge on the floor, The Figure pressed his palms together, creating a shining electric sphere. The energy collapsed on itself, creating a shockwave of light that ripped Cheshire apart.

"Cheshire! No!" Danika shouted, feeling her shadows pain. Cheshire recoiled back to Danika, licking its wounds.

There still stood The Figure. Still ready to fight.

"Nolan!" Kayla shouted from behind cover as Ghost continued to keep them pinned.

"Danika." Nolan looked over to his girlfriend. "Fetch Not-Dib, get him to Kami, then aid the others with Ghost."

"But I can still help!" Danika protested.

"This guy's countering your bending. I'm sorry but the others need you more than us right now."

"Fine." Danika grumbled before submerging into her shadow. She then moved to collect Not-Dib and whisk the downed boy to Kami for medical attention.

"What's the plan now Boss?" Crystal asked as she spun her staff in her hands.

"Hit him hard." Nolan cracked his knuckles before the trio of heroes ran at The Figure.

Danika handed the unconscious Not-Dib over to Kami, who placed him beside the unconscious forms of Midna, Abby and Olive. Jagar's current state, along with Kuki and Wally's took priority. Not-Dib was just going to have to wait.

"How're we doing?" Danika asked as she crept up beside Kayla.

"That pendejo has us pinned." Kayla deadpanned. "Any chance you can pop up behind him and kick him off his perch?"

"I can do that." Danika smiled wickedly before using her shadow veil to zip over to Ghost's position.

Out of the ground popped Danika, who took Ghost by surprised. Knocking the sniper off his perch, Kayla and the others could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"We've got him now!" Doug shouted as Josh leapt out from cover and charged at the hooded sniper.

Ghost quickly caught his bearings in order to dodge Josh's attack. The former Prospector had swung with his prosthetic harpoon and sliced the sniper's rifle in two. But despite being without his weapon, Ghost was far from defenseless. The mercenary flexed his own prosthetic arm and gave the mohawk sporting teen a good look.

"Bet mine beats yours." Ghost spoke quietly.

"Oh shut up." Josh gritted before charging at Ghost.

Danika joined in the attack, followed by Kayla, Doug and Gwen who all ran out of over to lend a hand. Ghost dodged Josh's attack and delivered a bone cracking punch to the man's ribs. Josh fell over in pain, but was not out of the fight. He quickly took aim and launched his harpoon, striking Ghost in the shoulder. With the flick of a switch, Ghost was electrocuted.

Danika ran in and delivered a swift kick against the mercenary's head knocking him further off balance. This then put Ghost in the position to be fired upon by the combined efforts of Gwen, Doug and Kayla. Ghost fell over, with some of them unsure if the man was even still alive.

"Like I care." Josh grunted before removing his harpoon from the man's chest.

Yuki ran at The Figure, producing a pair of icicles on the fly to use as melee weapons. The Figure countered by producing a lightning sword. Yuki swung with his icicles, only to be blocked by The Figure's makeshift sword. Yuki was zapped backwards, landing in a pile of broken scrap.

The Figure took a moment to admire his work, only to be caught by surprise as Nolan delivered a series of blows that cracked his visor. The Figure reeled back his hand and then unleashed a furry of lighting that blasted Nolan and Crystal back.

"Get him!" Rack and Ruin shouted as they charged at The Figure.

The Figure brought his arms in close to his chest, building up energy and unleashing it outward, creating a shockwave that not only knocked out Rack and Ruin, but also struck Gwen, Doug, Catherine, Danika, Josh and Abby. Standing over the fallen operatives, The Figure declared victory.

"Not over yet." Nolan muttered as he struggled to his feet.

"Huh." The Figure laughed. "Of course you'd be the last one standing. You're everything Brain said you'd be Ferior."

Nolan's eyes widened at being called by the Sith name The Brain had given him all those years ago. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"You don't know me. But I know you." The Figure laughed mockingly. "You, the great Nolan York. The boy who had the world in his hands but threw it all away! The Brain gave you everything! And you betrayed him."

"You'll never get away with this." Nolan said defiantly. "Others will stop you."

"Others? What others." The Figure laughed once more. "What do you think I had to achieve by kidnapping your friends or attacking your golden boy?" The Figure said as he began to unwind.

"This the part where you reveal your master plan?"

"The moment every villain dreams of." The Figure chuckled. "I've been planning this since the day you betrayed the Brotherhood, Nolan. It was on that day Evil should've won. But you just had to switch sides. You got too fraggin' soft."

"So, I decided to save the Brotherhood, to change history. But how do I change history?" The Figure asked rhetorically. "Well, I'd need a timebender for that. But how do I get a timebender? I threaten his or her friends." The Figure jotted a thumb over his shoulder at the unconscious forms of Olive and the barley conscious Jagar whom Kami had managed to halt his bleeding before getting knocked out by the shockwave.

"There's no way you could've known Jagar would show up." Nolan muttered, suddenly having difficulties breathing.

"I wasn't planning on him." The Figure admitted. "I was going to kidnap the one that showed up, the other one. I have a set up somewhere else, somewhere you'll never find. I was going to steal your friends powers."

"Were?" Nolan raised a brow at the wording.

"Were being the operative word." The Figure shrugged. "But you brought The Ghost of Time. And his Chrono Staff. With that I can now go whenever I want. Such as that day years ago, when you and the heroes fought the brotherhood."

"You're gonna have to go through me to do it." Nolan said, raising his fists for one last fight.

"Correction." Kayla spoke up, quickly raising her rifle and shooting The Figure in the back. "Through us."

The Figure staggered forward into a punch from Nolan. Kayla picked herself up and walked to Nolan's side. The pair exchanged a nod and set and ran at the villain. Finding his bearings, The Figure lashed out at the duo with lighting whips. Nolan and Kayla dodged, with the latter exchanging weapons fire while Nolan got in close.

The pair of former KND operatives got in close, engaging in close quarters combat. Nolan punched The Figure across his helmet and leapt back, allowing Kayla to reach in and smack him with the butt of her gun. Their moves were synchronized, unyielding and fluid. They didn't let up, there was more at stake than their lives.

Nolan ran in for a punch, followed by Kayla running in to get in a shot. The Figure tried to retaliate, aiming to fry Kayla, only for Nolan to pull the sniper out of the villain's crosshairs and kick his arm up. Kayla flipped over Nolan and shot The Figure in the face, busting his visor completely.

Danika regained consciousness briefly, spotting Nolan and Kayla's teamwork. She gritted her teeth and glared at the curly haired Latina. "Oh…you bitch…" Danika grumbled before losing consciousness once more.

The onslaught combo of Nolan and Kayla continued, striking at The Figure, slowly but surely they were wearing the man down. There was a flicker of hope, they could do it, they could win. They could beat The Figure. But as Nolan reeled back from punching The Figure, the young man's left arm went completely numb.

Nolan froze immediately, his legs going numb as well. There was a sudden pain in his chest, a piercing pain that felt like he'd just been stabbed in the back. But in reality, Nolan was suffering from a heart attack. Kayla's eyes went wide as she saw her comrade fall over, unmoving.

"Nolan!" Kayla cried out, quickly racing to his side.

"Ugh." The Figure removed his helmet slightly in order to spit out blood. The Figure then turned his eyes on Nolan and Kayla. He raised his hand and shot out lightning once more, electrocuting the pair. "Jerks." He muttered.

The Figure then staggered off, aiming to claim Jagar's Chrono Staff. Crystal picked herself up, catching sight of The Figure.

"Time to make things right." The Figure raised the staff. Soon, The Figure became enveloped by chronol energy.

"Oh no you don't!" Crystal shouted before running at The Figure screaming.

"Take me back five years." The Figure commanded.

The Figure was about to dissipated into the time stream, only for Crystal to tackle the teen. "Get off me!" The Figure shouted. But Crystal refused to let go and then the pair, the hero and the villain were taken into time itself, leaving behind everyone in their wake.

* * *

 **From the very beginning of Zen and Intent, I wanted it to be a time travel story. Where its basically just Crystal running around interacting with the world Gamewizard set up. She took a backseat for the most part of the chapter, but next chapter is all her.** **The stuff with Nolan falling seemingly dead of a heart attack is a plot point I'm going to explore later. But that's for later.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome back everyone, to the penultimate chapter of 'Zen and Intent'. This chapter has the distinction of being co-written by Gamewizard2008. As it is set in his universe and is very much time travel centered, he was able to sneak in some background stuff. So that's cool.**

 **Also, I hope you all have read Game's stuff. This is continuity heavy as (Profanity).**

* * *

"Oh happy days!" The Chronicler announced as he sat back upright in his large chair. "I found my glasses! Quite the challenge to do on your own. Why didn't you help me?" He stared at you accusingly.

"We'd have been finished with this story by now, but you just had to leave me here alone to fester about." The Chronicler said, looking very cross. But he relented and reached back over for his book and opened back up to his page.

"Where were we?" He asked aloud. "Oh right! They were traveling through time…"

* * *

Crystal and Figure landed on a grassy ground, rolling apart from each other. Crystal looked up and saw the Chrono Staff clutched in her hand. They had apparently landed near a forest. Crystal heard light footsteps on her left and saw a little green-eyed girl with golden hair in braids. "Oh, hello." Crystal smiled kindly. "Could you tell us where this is?"

"This isn't where I wanted to be!" The Figure jumped back to recovery and dove at Crystal. "GIVE ME THAT!"

"AAAAAHH!" The little girl screamed at the monster and ran into the forest. Crystal and Figure's strife over the Chrono Staff resumed and they flashed out of existence.

The next second, the two were squished together in a tight, box-like space. "Where did you take us now?!" Crystal yelled in a muffled fashion.

"You're the one who can't keep her mitts off! Now shut up and help me move my arm."

They were trapped inside an arcade console of an 8-bit game called Sugar Rush. Their struggle messed up the wiring and caused the screen to glitch and pixelate. The manager walked by and put an 'Out of Order' sign on the screen. "Well, I guess Nintendo's getting the jump on this company." He walked away without hearing the FLASH.

A young man in a jester's uniform was perched atop a cliff over a fearsome vortex of despair and darkness. "To jump, or not to jump. That is the question." Crystal and Figure spawned and rolled against him, the man screaming as he took the plunge into certain death.

"Please, take us home!" Crystal yelled at the staff.

"NO!" Figure grabbed it again. "Take us—!" They warped.

The two landed on a battle-scarred wasteland, where adult soldiers and even KND operatives were at war with legions of zombies and dark creatures. "Well, this is a little disturbing." Crystal said. However, Figure paid no mind to the chaos and fought her for the staff again. They warped before a titanic hand was able to grab them.

They suddenly flashed into a hospital room, where Crystal bumped against a bed and caused a blonde woman to drop her newborn son on the floor. "Oh my God, I'm terribly sorry!" Crystal scrambled to get around the bed, pick the bowl-haired baby up, and give him back to her. "Really sorry!" Then Crystal bolted out of the room and tackled Figure just as he teleported.

They reappeared in front of a cabin in the middle of the woods, fighting over the staff on a snowy ground before another quick teleport. A man with brown hair and a big nose peeked out of the cabin's door, aiming a shotgun around. Seeing no one nearby, he went back in.

Wiccan and Figure appeared above a street and landed on a car. HOOOOONK! They both rolled off, but the car was too late to stop as it crashed into a family crossing the street. Neither combatant bothered to notice as they grabbed hold of the Chrono Staff and warped again.

* * *

"Oh, that one's going to bite later." The Chronicler remarked, flinching after reading that part.

* * *

Through time once more Crystal and Figure went. Fighting for control of the staff, neither willing to let go.

"Give up!" The Figure shouted as they warped through another breach in time, falling downward in the sky of Oregon.

"You give up!" Crystal glared before socking Figure, blasting out the rest of his visor, revealing his black eyes beneath.

Figure let out an angry roar. The helmeted teen then balled his fist and delivered a blow against Crystal, punching her in the gut. The wind was knocked out of Crystal but she kept pressing forward.

It soon dawned on Figure that they were getting dangerously close to the ground. "Get us out of here staff! To the Final Brain!"

"No!" Crystal shouted as she activated one of her staff's many features, causing a blade to shoot out of one of the ends.

The pair of teens were warped through time once more, just as Crystal stabbed at Figure. Send hurdling through time once more, they continued to fight. Figure's armor was surprisingly thick, causing Crystal's blade to snap like a twig upon contact. Figure reached for his last remaining handgun, intent on riddling the faux witch until she let go.

But just before he could pull the trigger, the pair were warped back into reality.

They were falling now and it seemed to be forever. Crystal could hear Figure shouting beside her as they continued to fight for control over the staff, but it all seemed mute as they literally exploded out back into the world. The vibrant blue of time was replaced by pitch black wall tiling.

They were falling forever and crashing down quicker. The shockwave created by the portal sent both Crystal and Figure plummeting downwards with the chrono staff spiraling between them.

Crystal could hear the all too familiar sound of gunfire down below. She reached up and pulled down her flapping hood, which had been obstructing her vision for so long. What she found was a never ending line of time portals above and below her.

Through time and space, both she and Figure descended through. Crystal wasn't a time traveler, she was a tinkerer who dabbled with mechanics beyond normal comprehension. But given the circumstances, you could forgive her for making the assumption she'd just broken time.

Through the ages they fell. From the dawn of man to the death of the dinosaurs, Crystal and Figure were given a once in a lifetime front row seat to everything Earth had to offer. The fall of the Roman Empire, Columbus sailing west, the Armistice. They could see allied forces air dropping supplies behind the Berlin Wall into East Germany.

And then the next thing they knew, they were both on the floor. Figure was the first to sit up. He looked around to find where ever they'd landed, but could not distinguish any recognizable markers. There was no sunlight, they were in doors in some sort of coliseum. But the floors were black marble and the ceiling of constructs.

Crystal soon found her way back onto her feet and raised her staff, ready to go another round. Figure took notice of this and spun around slowly, electricity dancing around his fingertips. Crystal stared out into the teen's eyes, past his shattered visor and met his stare.

But before ether could make a move, the chrono staff began to buzz to life, seemingly damaged from the constant misuse. Their eyes fell onto the staff as the hands in the center began to realign.

Everything around the pair of teens began to settle. Falling through the countless time portals had displaced them from time itself. The chrono staff was hard at work, fixing the anomaly, repairing time around the two teens and itself. And then came the low sounds of gunfire.

Crystal and Figure looked around for the source of the noise, finding only nothing but emptiness surrounding them. And then it grew louder, then cut off by an eerie silence.

"Foolish Nolan York. Did you actually believe your pathetic resistance could stop what _I_ have created? The most powerful organization of supervillains the world has ever seen?" A synthesized voice called out. "You have failed once again, my dear apprentice. Now, there is nothing to stand in my way. Madame Rouge: add them to the collection."

"What?" Crystal looked around desperately for the source of the voice.

"Don't vorry. I will happily bury you vith Dillon in his grave. Any last vords?"

"Yeah… I wouldn't stand there if I were you. MANCHURIAN MUSCA!"

Crystal jumped at the sound of the floor ripping apart beside her. Quickly, Crystal leapt onto her staff and floated upwards as the floor she'd been standing on crumbled beneath her. "Bloody hell." She muttered as she began to see outlines and shadows stepping out of the hole in the ground.

"Lesson Number One! Never throw someone down a hole unless you make sure they stay there!"

The ceiling up above shattered, allowing sunlight to pierce into the darkness. Crystal dodged the raining debris while Figure simply stood his ground, casually glancing upward and squinting. "The Lesson Two: we NEVER give up!"

"Lesson Three. Your 'secret lair' ISN'T very secret."

Down below, Crystal could see the outlines and shadows talking shape. It was as if she'd loaded up a video game and the world was finally loading in. And just like that, Crystal soon found herself floating beside many flying heroes, glaring down at the villainous forces of the Brotherhood.

"Lesson Four. The Dark Side stinks." Mathew Dimalanta, the leader of the Terrible Toxic Four commented as various other heroes stepped out of a portal the Grim Reaper had conjured.

The Figure released a dark laugh. "We're here." He muttered lowly.

The next thing Crystal knew, the first shots were fired and one of the greatest battles in Kids Next Door history was underway. She stood perfectly balanced on her staff in awe as the resurging allied KND forces launched one final attack against the forces of evil. It was history in the making and she had a front row seat.

"I don't even know where to begin." A young but familiar voice caught Crystal's attention. She glanced over to her left and her eyes went wide. There standing around the ensuing battle, stood the friends she'd come to know well over the years.

A young Doug over looked the battle eagerly as a young Gwen stood beside him assessing the disarray of their enemies. But it was the young boy in the wheel chair beside them who caught Crystal's eye. Almost thirteen but unmistakably, Nolan York, then Numbuh 2030, looked to an overlooking stage where The Brain resided.

"I do." He muttered, intent in his eyes. "We're going after The Brain. You with me?"

"O-kay!" They exclaimed before running off with Nolan, a young Danika and some blonde girl whom Crystal had never met.

Crystal couldn't help but linger a little while in the air, watching over Nolan and the others as they hurried on to make history. But as the sound of battle raged on, Crystal snapped out of her trance and turned her attention back to why she was here.

Crystal descended back onto the ground and quickly claimed Jagar's Chrono Staff. With it recovered, Crystal's job was only half done. She looked around once more amongst the battle, in search of The Figure who had taken off to no doubt change history.

This was exactly where The Figure wanted to be. He came here to prevent a Brotherhood defeat. But before Crystal could start her search, a sudden evil cackling caught her ear.

"You imagine yourself a witch, girl?" A crusty old hag of a woman asked mockingly as she appeared out in a puff of smoke.

Crystal spun around slowly and stared at the woman oddly. "Who're you?"

"A true Witch unlike yourself, defiler!" The Witch pointed at Crystal menacingly with her jagged fingernail. "In the name of The Brotherhood! In the name of Witchcraft! I sentence you to die by fire!" The Witch shouted before raising her hand

"I'm no witch, 'tis true." Crystal scoffed before raising her staff and giving it a good twirl before holding it at the ready. She hit one of the side switches, readying an energy blast. "I'm a scientist."

The wicked Witch let loose a static blast constructed out of material Crystal couldn't imagine. Was this real magic? She wondered before releasing an energy blast of her own design out of her staff. The beams connected halfway, leaving the two combatants locked in stalemate. But thirty seconds in, the Witch began to falter.

"What sorcery is this?!" She shouted as Crystal's energy beam began to overpower her own.

"Not sorcery, science." Crystal smirked. "Whatever weapon you've got under your sleeve probably runs off of your own physiology. Mine runs off a battery. Let's see which one lasts longer, eh?"

And without another word, Crystal just watched as her own energy blast overpowered the faltering old hag. The Witch let out a shriek before becoming consumed by Crystal's blast. In the aftermath there was only smoke and ash.

"Magic's for chumps." Crystal spat before walking over and kicking the ashes. The pretender witch then turned her attention back to searching for Figure.

"Prospectors, go!" A young Josh shouted as he pumped his spork launching prosthetic in the air.

Crystal just froze in place, starring at the sight of a young Josh leading a bunch of kids, including the saimese twins Rack and Ruin across the room. She couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of a bunch of children running across the open battlefield with oversized weapons that were obviously too large to carry.

"Now where the devil is Figure?"

"Out of my way!" The Figure shouted as he pushed past The Iguana and Knightbrace.

"What's his deal?" Knightbrace turned to his compatriot, who only shrugged in response. Before the pair of villains knew it, Crystal zoomed by on her staff, disorienting them and leaving the duo open to attack by the unfrozen KND operatives.

The Figure looked around, as if in search of something. Crystal charged at The Figure, knocking him forward with her staff.

The Figure quickly caught himself and somersaulted back onto his feet. He quickly whipped out his remaining firearm and took aim at Crystal as she circled around in the air for another pass. He pulled the trigger striking her staff and causing her to fall off it. Crystal could only watch was her prized invention went soaring off, crashing into the side of giant robot and bursting into flames.

"Villain prepare to fall!" The Figure turned to find Elfa Strike addressing him.

"We're gonna rip you limb from limb, bub." Wintergreen said as he popped his candy cane claws.

The Figure simply charged his right hand and raised it. Lightning shot forth and struck Santa's most elite defenders, sending them flying. "Lightweights." Figure muttered before resuming his search. Soon, his eyes fell on one Nolan York as the wheelchair bound boy and his friends circled around and admired their handiwork.

"There you are." He muttered before once more raising his hand and charging it, intending to shoot Nolan with concentrated lightning.

"No!" Crystal shouted, realizing what The Figure intended to do. She quickly got back on her feet and raised the chrono staff. Once more Crystal charged into battle, running passed an odd sight of what looked like a Star Wars character dancing with a decapitated body.

Crystal tackled the unsuspecting Figure and spoke into the chrono staff. "Take us home!"

"No!" Figure shouted in defiance before elbowing Crystal in the gut. Once more he attempted to shoot Nolan, only to find Crystal firmly smashing her fist through what remained of his visor. Glass rained down on his eyes, causing The Figure to reach up in an attempt to remove the pieces of glass that had found their way into his eyes.

Crystal winced, having cut her hand on the Figure's visor, but she pressed on. She reached around with the chrono staff and held The Figure against herself. Once more she spoke aloud, causing the staff to create a time portal for them to fall into.

"God dammit." The Figure muttered as he was forced to hold onto the chrono staff, lest he be flung off and lost to time.

Crystal and her fight with Figure resumed once more, this time with the pair slamming back into the present, passing through the warehouse where they'd initially come from and finding KND Medics arriving on the scene to aid the wounded.

But once again this did not stop The Figure who continued to wrestle from dominance over the staff. "Get us out of here!" He shouted loudly, causing another portal to open.

In the not too distant future, a young girl with snow white hair sat watching TV. She flicked through the channels lazily, occasionally glancing at the wall clock, keeping an eye out for the time. The whole situation got a laugh out of the girl. Her name was Miyuki Crystal, she was a time bender, one of the most powerful beings in existence, and yet she was too busy worrying about the arrival of some boy.

The time portal exploded out of the ceiling, causing Crystal and Figure to fall before Miyuki, who just stared in surprise. Crystal and Figure resumed their fighting, this time with Figure manifesting a lightning bolt to throw at the interfering girl. But the bolt missed by inches, grazing Crystal's cheek and causing her hair to stand up.

"Home now!" Crystal shouted before getting in a good punch, causing Figure's helmet to spin to the left and obscure his vision. For a moment, Crystal had thought she'd lost Figure, only to find the teen clinging to the very end of the staff.

"Give up." The Figure muttered as he straightened his helmet. "I'll never stop."

"And I'll never quit!" Crystal shouted defiantly before kicking at Figure.

Figure caught Crystal's foot and quickly charged up his hand, sending an electric shock running up her body. Stunned, Crystal let go of the staff and began to plummet into the time stream. The Figure let out a victorious laugh and began to climb the staff until reaching the clock head piece.

"Take me before Darth Genious' death!" He demanded. The chrono staff complied, changing its course and exploding back into reality.

The Figure landed in the floor beneath the roof of the tower of The Final Brain. Up above he could hear the sounds of Darth Genious and Nolan clashing. The Figure climbed the stairs and reached the top. He set his sights on Nolan York, the boy in the wheel chair and prepared to throw a lightning bolt at him, only to be caught by surprise once again. Crystal had appeared behind him and tackled him onto the floor.

The two teens collapsed, both tired from the whole ordeal. Crystal had taken the chance to seize the chrono staff, using it to get back on her feet. And soon, The Figure was back on his. The two enemies stared at the other, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"I don't even know who the hell you are. But I can tell you ain't Kids Next Door." The Figure said as he removed his helmet, revealing his pale face beneath. The Figure had brown hair and black eyes with blood trailing the sides of his cheeks, glass from his visor had seemingly done more damage than he'd led on.

The Figure the held up his helmet and shook it, causing the remaining glass to fall out. But even then, The Figure ran one of his gloved hands inside to make double sure he'd gotten out the last of it. "KND have flair. They reek of sugar and spice, spoiled brats thinking the world works for them when it's in fact the other way around. But you, you're movements are sluggish, imprecise. And I saw the way you looked at them back there. The kids."

"You sound like a rotten tomatoes critic." Crystal scoffed tiredly.

But The Figure remained unfazed by her continued defiance. So the teenager pressed on as he once more placed his helmet over his head. "It was a longing stare. You were never KND. But you always wanted to be. You're just a hanger on. I take that as an insult."

"I've spent years scheming and plotting." The Figure muttered as he got back up and took a fighting stance. "And trust me when I say I've thought about the likes of Nigel Uno interfering with my plans, to do as you did and follow me back here."

"I'm The Brotherhood resurgent. And yet all I racked up was something as insignificant as you to be the one standing here, challenging my dominion of the world." The Figure shook his head in disappointment.

"Nigel Uno, Rachel T. McKenzie, Nolan York. I'd figured that anyone of them would come running in behind me, but no. It was you." Figure scoffed. "You're not even Kids Next Door. What are you? Just some cosplayer who thinks she can make a difference? This is the big leagues kiddo. You don't have the skill nor the experience as the rest of them KNDorks."

Crystal frowned, recognizing the truth in Figure's words. She wasn't a member of the Kids Next Door. She wasn't an athlete or trained in the most hazardous of environments. She hadn't the strength nor the skill to do what any of the boys, girls, men and women who fought around her could.

But Crystal had her brain. She subscribed to the notions of science and probability. There was no way she could match fists with Figure. The opposing teen had made that quite clear earlier. He had a power he was born with, able to command lightning itself. Ben Franklin must be rolling in his grave somewhere, jealous at the prospect. The only thing she had over him, however, was she was damn well smarter than he.

"You never were a member of the Brotherhood are you?" Crystal asked as she slowly cracked a smirk. Figure just stared at her as the battle between Darth Genious and Nolan raged in the background.

Crystal let out the most hurtful laugh she could muster. The kind she herself had been on the receiving end of time and time again by those who mocked her. The Figure just glared through his busted up visor, the sound of teeth grinding against one another filling the air around him.

"That's rich!" Crystal continued to laugh. "You're talking yourself as some sort of resurging end all be all badass, and you aren't squat. Just like me."

"I'm nothing like you." The Figure muttered darkly as an electric charged danced across his body.

"Oh yea, definitely." Crystal said as she wiped away a mock tear. "I met my heroes." Her smile widened. "Every day I have the pleasure of working alongside the best the world has to offer. And believe me, there's no greater joy in my life than doing just that."

Crystal raised the chrono staff once more, preparing for whatever came next. The look in The Figure's eyes was all she needed to know. She'd struck a nerve with this supposed villain, who was nothing more than just some delusional fanboy.

"I'm glad to hear that you except there'll never be another joyful experience in your life." Figure retorted angrily. "It ends here for you, just like it will for everyone else."

Crystal wanted to come up with some sort of snarky response, some famous line that rebuked The Figure's claims and cemented her defiance. But Crystal accepted the truth of the situation. She very well might just die today. But there was always hope even against the direst of odds. All Crystal had to do was look to her left and see the living proof. A cripple versus a psychic god.

"Isn't this the part where Genious dies?" Crystal said, almost mockingly.

"Not this time." The Figure said as he created one more lightning bolt. The Figure then spun and prepared to throw it at Nolan all the way on the other side of the roof where he was just about to toss Revan Bane Sidious off the side.

But Crystal tossed the chrono staff like a javelin, striking The Figure, knocking him off balance and then charged. It was the final gambit. The Figure threw the lightning bolt blindly, missing Nolan. The next thing he knew, Crystal had the chrono staff back in her hands and choking him with it.

"One more time staff, home now!" Crystal shouted before the pair were thrown through time once again. But The Figure would not go quietly.

Once more The Figure and Crystal clashed through time. They exploded out through several portals, each one taking them through various other points in time and space. From the dawn of humanity to the end of time, Crystal had to shut her eyes every time they ran past the sun going supernova and the world going dark.

She'd open her eyes and blink the next and she'd see them travelling through The fall of the Berlin Wall and over Spain, watching Columbus raise his sails and beat on west.

"Take me back!" The Figure demanded once more, only for the chrono staff to begin screaming. "Agh!"

The teen villain then turned his eyes on Crystal and let out an enraged almost primal shout as he began to fire lighting from his hands. "You!" He sneered as Crystal ducked. "Insignificant clod!"

The lighting shot out from The Figure's hands began to strike time around them, causing the long running tunnel that they'd seemingly been falling through to quake violently. "Look what you've done!" The Figure shouted as he continued to thrash about, spewing more lightining from his fingertips.

But Crystal just evaded as best she could. Despite their close proximity, Crystal was using the staff and the nature of the chrono staff to her advantage. They were neither falling nor flying through time. It had taken her some time to figure out the rules of the chrono staff, she'd made her hypothesis and tested it earlier when she'd been tazed by The Figure. It was the world itself that moved, space folding in and flying at speeds she'd never know. As long as she stayed within a close proximity of the staff and away from the edges of time tunnels, then she'd be relatively okay.

The Figure brought his legs closer to the staff in order to hang off of it. This was a two hand job after all. With both hands free, Figure began to unleash a torrent of lightning, not caring for what was hit as long as he'd get Crystal. But the more and more he unleashed his power, the more he'd strike where ever they passed.

Through unknown locations, unforeseeable times, The Figure's strikes reached the highest mountain tops and touched the quietest of lakes. But the more and more he lashed out in anger, The Figure struck time itself as they entered another portal.

And Crystal could see the nasty effects. Figure's electric discharge was having the adverse effect of dancing in the air around him. Polarizing the area around him, as well as himself, Crystal could see what was about to happen lightyears away.

Before The Figure knew it, his lightning, like an anchor, connected with some sort of landmass out in the ocean. Crystal went hurdling through another time portal, along with the chrono staff, but The Figure was not so lucky.

Crystal spared one last glance upward with her tired eyes, seeing the portal close behind her. Up was down, and down was up here amongst time, so it was difficult to tell. But Crystal could see him shouting, cursing at the top of his lungs as he was yanked off the chrono staff, like a magnet attracted to the largest metal surface.

"I'll get you! I'll get you all!" He shouted before fading the portal.

And so, The Figure was gone. Crystal didn't know where or when he'd be lost to, but as long as he was away from those she loved, then she could live with it. Crystal hauled herself back onto the chrono staff. Every last muscle in her body screamed for her to stop, to give in and fall. But then she'd be like The Figure, lost in time.

Crystal had too much left to do. She was graduating from High School after all. That got her to smile. The thought of crossing stage with her friends. Uncertainty be damned, she'd just defeated her first major super villain.

"Take me back home, please." Crystal said as lowly as a whisper to the chrono staff. There was no yelling this time, as it did with The Figure. The chrono staff complied.

Exhaustion was overtaking her. Crystal's eyes were growing heavier. The light at the end of the time tunnel, one last exploding time portal. But she'd never see it. The lights were fading. And then Crystal blacked out, not knowing if she'd ever made it back.

* * *

 **So for the most part the chapter was set during 'Legend of the Eight Firstborn', during the climactic battle with the brotherhood. I even lifted some of the dialogue from the original chapter.**

 **If you go back and read the chapter, you'd find Crystal running around fighting The Witch. I think Game threw Crystal in there as an easter egg, but that was the whole crux of this story actually. That neat little moment inspired all of this. And that's cool.**

 **And so next time we'll get the conclusion. 'Til next time, later days!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So this has been a long time coming. I've been busy writing in the RWBY community that this got swept under the rug for a while. But here it is , the final chapter of Zen and Intent!**

 **Than you all for being so patient with this. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Amongst the stacks of his massive library, The Chronicler stood sifting through his collection with great concentration. There was something missing amongst his books. A book titled 'Out of Mind' was missing from its rightful place. What a shame, The Chronicler thought as he stroked his chin. He'd been meaning to get back to recording the story's events, but now it seemed he'd have to start from scratch.

Or maybe not, he mused. Leaving that puzzling mystery alone for the time being, The Chronicler waltzed back to his desk and waved to you. "I apologize for the constant intermissions. My mind wanders." The Chronicler said hoping you weren't too angry for the wait. "There was a rather interesting bird that caught my eye."

And with that The Chronicler took his seat once more and reclaimed the story of 'Zen and Intent'. He flipped through the pages and picked up right where he left off.

* * *

Crystal opened her eyes and found herself staring up at a white ceiling. The purple haired teen sat up and found herself lying in a bed. The white walled room with matching white sheets, and a hint of cleaning alcohol in the air. Light poured into the room from the window, bounding off a pair purple balloons that rested by Crystal's bedside. On the balloons there were 'get well soon' descriptions. That got the purple haired girl's brain moving.

Hearing noises, other voices and low intercom voices paging for doctors confirmed Crystal's thoughts. She was in a Hospital, but exactly 'when' was she? That was the true cause of her distress.

Fearing she'd been lost in the time stream, Crystal pulled herself out of bed, only to fall flat on her face. With a pained groan, Crystal staggered back to her legs. She felt weak, sore and exhausted. There were a dozen questions running through her mind. If she sat down and thought about it, no doubt she could answer them, like why she felt so ill. But she didn't have the time.

The last thing she recalled before blacking out was her fight with The Figure. She'd clung to Jagar's staff for dear life before becoming engulfed in light. Her worst fears were that she'd fallen, let go of the time staff. But then perhaps she didn't, maybe it was somewhere in this building. And it was her only way home.

Crystal couldn't afford to lay around questioning her situation. She needed to move, get up and get going. And so, Crystal grabbed onto her bed for support and began to make her way to the door. It was then when she'd struggled and pushed herself to keep moving towards the door that she realized her state of dress, just a simple gown. So Crystal slowly pulled off the covers on the bed to cover herself.

Then she trudged to the door and pulled it open. Crystal stepped out into the hallway and glanced around, finding nurses at work filing paper work and working on computers. That was a welcome sight for sure, seeing technology. On the bright side, she wasn't anywhere in the past.

For a moment Crystal debated whether or not to straight up ask one of the nurses for assistance. But seeing as she'd have to deal with quite the number of questions she'd rather leave unasked, she decided to simply sneak past them in search of her gear and the staff.

Stepping into the ward was a bulky metallic blue robot with a face resembling a skull. The robot had copper wire dreads sagging out from its head and a massive fluid metal cannon arm that seemed to be constantly shifting. Its outer chest plating was scorched and dented, no doubt received from extensive combat.

The robot scared Crystal, not because of its appearance, but because the first thing it did when it stepped through those doors was look at her. And since then its eyes hadn't wandered. Crystal stayed still, unsure of what to make of it. She was in no condition to fight, nor was she to flee. So all she could do was wait and see what happened next.

Whatever that robot was, it seemed to be no cause for alarm. The nurses acknowledged it with a nod and made nothing of it, a sign of familiarity. That also scared Crystal. She watched with slight intrigue as the robot tapped the side of its head with its non-cannon arm. She couldn't help but admire it. The robot was a marvel of science.

"She's awake." The robot said aloud to no one in specific. Given its earlier motions, Crystal could only assume it was speaking into some built in communication device. After receiving orders from the other end, the robot then began to approach Crystal.

It was then in that moment that Crystal felt a spike of adrenaline at the sight of the robots hulking frame stalking towards her. Her eyes widened and she took a few steps back. Her legs gave out on her once more and she fell back against a wall which she caught herself on. She struggled to keep herself upright and off the floor. And then Crystal realized the robot was upon her with its shadow looming over her.

The next thing she knew the robot had reached out with its hand and caught her by the arm, helping her regain her footing. "Relax child, you are safe." The giant robot with wire's sticking out of its head like dreadlocks said in a dark and menacing manner that unsettled Crystal further.

"Um, thanks?" Crystal said, unsure how to respond to the robot. If there was any question if the robot was sentient they were quickly laid to rest.

"Oh good, you met Minion." The robot glanced over its shoulder and nodded at the speaker. The robot known as Minion moved his hulking frame out of Crystal's way, revealing the Rhode Island crew standing in the hallway.

"Guys!" Crystal exclaimed before hobbling over to them. The Rhode Island Crew stepped forward and welcomed Crystal with a group hug. "What happened?" Crystal asked as she pulled away.

"Tall, dark, and chrome over there is a time traveler." Gwen jotted a thumb over at the robot designated as Minion. The robot merely folded his arms over his chest and grunted, taking slight offense at the description.

"Freelance Peace Keeping Agent." Minion scoffed.

"And a friend. A good one at that." Josh said before walking up to the robot and patted him on the arm. "He noticed all the commotion in the time stream and plucked you out of limbo."

"And Jagar's staff? You have it right? I didn't lose it?" Crystal asked with concern. After all, if she'd lost the staff then she'd have gone through all the trouble for nothing.

"All safe and sound." Kayla assured. "He's really glad you got it back for him. Turned back the clock on that flesh wound of his. He's good as new."

"How long have I been gone, exactly?" Crystal asked quietly, her interest piquing at the mention of scar tissue.

The assemble group of teenage operatives exchanged looks. It was Danika who stepped forward amongst them to speak. "You were chronologically displaced for a week and in a coma for another. Welcome to two weeks your future, Crystal."

"Oh no." Crystal muttered as she became visibly distressed at the news. "Oh no, I had finals next week and-and we're graduating. Did Prom already happen? Was that a thing? When's that happening? And what about my parents?! My parents must be freaking out!"

"Whoa, slow down, you shouldn't be getting so worked up, you're still recovering." Gwen said, placing a hand on Crystal's draped shoulder. "School knows all about your situation. And your parents have already been informed. I'm sorry to say, you're grounded as soon as you check out of here. Your diploma will be there for you when you're rested."

"Come on, Crystal, let's get you back to bed." Danika said as she grabbed Crystal's arm. Crystal didn't argue, she didn't fight her friends, she just resigned herself to their whims, setting aside the rest of her concerns.

She was practically carried to her room. Once more Crystal found herself laying in the bed. She looked to her friends, as they began to pour out the room, having decided to give Crystal her space and tie to be alone, to soak everything in.

But Crystal wasn't alone in her room, there remained one more. She glanced at the doorway and found Nolan looking worse for wear than she'd seen him last. It was such a dramatic shift, to see him in his younger days in the KND as if it were only yesterday and to see him as he was now. The only similarity, Crystal noted, was the wheelchair they both sat in.

"Hey, Nolan, you coming?" Kayla called out from outside the room.

The dark haired young man glanced over his shoulder and called back. "Go on ahead guys. I'll be with you shortly." He said before rolling over to Crystal's bedside. "How're you?" He asked casually, as if the past two weeks had never happened, like they were still at lunch in school, sitting at their table and toasting to their future.

"I feel terrible." Crystal groaned. "Is this what time travel usually feels like?"

"I've never travelled through time myself. I'll have to track a timebender down and ask them for you." He said in a joking tone.

Crystal felt like commenting about the murderous robot she'd encountered in the hall, how it was mentioned to be a seasoned time traveler. But she quickly reminded herself that Minion was an automaton, not a living being who could feel.

Her eyes then fell back to the wheel chair Nolan sat in and recalled how he'd earlier claimed to have remedied his inability to walk. "You're back in the wheelchair? I thought you could walk again." She asked.

"So did I." Nolan afforded himself a light laugh. "Formula Q, there's a lot of science behind it. My legs have been out of use for years. The cocktail that spontaneously grows my leg muscles so I'm not limpy, well, that bit of the science also grows everything else, like my heart."

"You took a heart attack…" Crystal recalled Nolan's falling in battle.

For a moment a brief silence fell over them. There were no words exchanged between them, they didn't have to say a word. They were both in their youth, in their prime. The concept of death was once foreign but now at the forefront of their minds. Crystal could have died, been lost to time and forgotten. Nolan could have dropped dead at any moment as if it were nothing.

Nolan's gaze fell beyond Crystal, looking to the window at a shimmering green. He faltered momentarily at the sight before it vanished. He then glanced over to Crystal to speak of what he'd seen, but seeing the conflict and terror on Crystal's face, Nolan prompted to change the topic, to move on to something he knew would brighten her spirits.

"Everyone was worried about you." Nolan said as he dug into his pants pocket. "You wouldn't believe all the heartfelt things people said, not just KND but at school. People wanted you to be safe." The Rhode Island Teen Leader then produced from his pocket a piece of paper and placed beside Crystal. "Got you an autograph, just like you wanted."

Crystal took the paper and looked at it, finding a message written in black ink with a signature. 'Anyone Can Be A Hero' it read. Signed Rachel T. McKenzie. And below that, fifty other signatures.

The purple haired girl looked it over and noticed the names, written in different styles unique to their person. They were the genuine article, signed by the likes of Nigel Uno, Patton Drilovsky and Abigail Lincoln. The heroes of the Kids Next Door.

It was then Crystal found herself crying. Tears descended down her cheeks and stained the paper with all those wonderful signatures. "All I ever wanted was to be Kids Next Door." Crystal admitted quietly as she wiped away the tears on her sleeve.

"I wanted to go on adventures, meet new and exciting people and see the impossible." She lamented. "And I finally did, I finally had my big grand adventure." Crystal gestured to the bed she laid in. "A little too late."

Nolan raised a brow, finding Crystal's choice of words peculiar. But then he recalled their earlier conversation at the Convention Center. _"I just don't want any of this to end. All this fun stuff, this kid stuff. Stopping bad guys and having adventures. It's all I've ever wanted and more. I don't want it to be the end."_ Her words flowed through his mind.

"Of course it happens right before I graduate, I mean, that's always been my luck." She muttered bitterly.

"I guess we all wish we could go back and do it all over every once in a while." Nolan muttered, causing Crystal to look away from the paper on her lap and to the wheelchair bound boy.

There was something about the way he'd said it, something about his tone where the true underlying message was hidden. Crystal had known the boy for a relatively short time compared to anyone else. But she knew him just as well as all the others if not better.

The parallel he was drawing between herself and The Figure was glaring and somewhat insulting. But Crystal recognized that was not his intent. If anything he wished to calm her mind, to build her up rather than belittle her. "So what then? What would you have me do?"

"I don't want you to do anything." Nolan said sounding tired. "I mean that I have no say in how you shape your life. You could do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. I know you can, I've seen it time and time again."

There was another veiled message in his words. Crystal couldn't put her finger on it, but then she recalled her fight with The Figure and how their actions were now cemented in history. Crystal was speechless at the prospect.

"I remember how I was up there fighting Genious. I'm fighting for my life and out of the corner of my eyes I see someone I haven't seen in a long time. I think I'm seeing Koda Shrieves, the first Figure and he's taking aim at me. He's going to shoot me. But then this girl dressed kinda gothic, kind of purple charges at him and they disappear." Nolan said as he glanced at the floor.

"I always wondered what happened to that girl and certainly I never thought I'd see her again." He said, turning his eyes on Crystal. "Life is full of uncertainties. There are no take backs. We live with our choices, good and bad."

"There's always a tomorrow." Crystal said, recalling Nolan's previous words that he'd shared with her back at the Convention Center.

"Sure, you might not be heading to one of those universities like the others and life after high school is frightening, but talk to me, Crystal. And if not me, then Josh, Danika, Kayla and even Gwen. We're your friends, we can help you get sorted out, help you go to a community college or help you find a job and even an apartment." He said clearly. "And then, maybe then, the future doesn't have to be so scary."

Crystal remained silent. She took Nolan's words and thought on them. The flow of tears had halted some time ago. "Thanks Nolan." She said quietly. "For everything."

Nolan nodded. There really was nothing else he could say. "I'd best be off then, let you get some rest." Crystal nodded in agreement and watched Nolan spin around in his chair and head for the door.

But then he stepped just shy of the doorway and glanced over his shoulder. "By the way, before I forget. I have a question for you." He said before spinning back around to face her once again. "What happened to The Figure?"

Crystal sighed. "Lost to time, I'm afraid." Was all she could say on the matter.

"Hm." Nolan scratched his chin. "Catch you tomorrow, Crystal."

With that, Nolan turned to leave. Crystal watched him depart, thankful to have a friend like him. But then her thoughts drifted to the subject of The Figure. He was lost to time and she could only speculate on his fate. Wherever The Figure landed, what became of him?

* * *

 **50 Years in The Past**

On a sandy beach, on an Island far from civilization, the armored body of The Figure began to stir awake.

"I'm going to kill them all." He said, his voice hoarse from ingestion of sea water. "I'm gonna rid the world of all those blasted kids." He said sitting up. "No matter how long it takes. No matter what I have to go through. I'm going to kill the Kids Next Door."

So, with his declaration made, the boy found his way up onto the beach and began to plot the myriad of ways he'd have his revenge. And so begins the story of Jonah Icarus. The vilest villain the Sixth Age Kids Next Door would ever know.

* * *

 **The Present**

Now left to her own thoughts, Crystal found herself dwelling on her future. There would be time and time again when she would be challenged, as would everyone else. Here were so many variables to take into account.

But now she didn't feel stressed, she didn't feel uneasy. She felt calm, at peace, for the first time in what felt like years. Time travel, she wondered in an amused tone. The chance to change anything and everything. To go back and udo it all.

Though she'd never go to the lengths of The Figure, she would look back on this day as with the rest in her life and always wonder how things could have been different. But not the she did then but how she did now.

She was thankful for the opportunities she had and didn't regret a moment in her life. She's the woman she is today because of it and she could never be less thankful for that. So come then, tomorrow, bring her new adventures and more uncertainty, she will meet you there with the support of her friends at her back.

Crystal Wickens would never be a Kids Next Door Operative. But she could always be their ally.

* * *

"And so ends the story of 'Zen and Intent'." The Chronicler said to you as he closed the book. "A tale of accepting one's place if there ever was one."

"But is it really the end? Hm?" The Chronicler said with wryly smile. "If Marvel can make the big bucks with their post credits scenes, so can we! Hit it!"

* * *

 **Post-Script**

* * *

"You guys shouldn't have waited." Nolan called out to his friends who remained behind waiting for him.

"Hey, as I recall, you're the one paying for lunch." Doug said aloud before playfully slapping their leader on the back.

"Heh, how could I forget?" Nolan let out an amused laugh.

"So where would you guys like to eat? I'm partial to anything, really." Garret spoke up.

"I'm thinking anything other than the hospital food court." Kayla said, getting a hearty round of laughs from the group and from some of the nearby nurses.

"Anywhere besides Fred Fred Burger's Fabulous Burgerito joint." Minion grunted.

"You're still here?" Gwen questioned.

"Yes." Minion muttered. "Problem?" He asked as he raised his cannon arm.

"Nope, no problem at all. We're cool."

"So how about a diner? Does a diner sound nice?" Kayla surveyed the group.

"That sounds great." Nolan said before rolling ahead of the group. "There's one right down the street."

With that said, the group began to pour out of the ward with some like the saimese twins Rack and Ruin racing off to be the first. One by one they poured out the hospital through the main entrance. It was Kayla's turn to exit behind Garret, but a hand shot out behind her and pulled her back.

"Okay, so, what's your deal?" Danika said, pulling Kayla aside. On instinct, Kayla slapped the goth girl's hand away from her.

"My deal?" Kayla raised a brow in confusion.

"Don't play dumb. I see the way you look at Nolan." Danika growled. "Step off. He's mine, got that?"

"Danika, Nolan would never do that to you." Kayla said, placing a hand on Danika's shoulder. "Whenever any of us are on stakeout with him, he never shuts up about how annoyingly cute you are."

"Really?" Danika said, sounding surprised and pleased, in effect easing up.

"Yes." Kayla said before her features turned to a sharp glare. "And that's why I hate you."

"Wait what?" Danika raised a brow now confused by this turn of events.

"You can't recognize how loyal he is can you? He's wasted on you."

"Uh…"

"And no matter what I say, you're probably going to mess it up anyways. Because you just can't appreciate a good thing."

"…"

"The moment you're relationship ends, which will probably be on your part. I am going to lock that down and send you a thank you card." Kayla said finally before walking past Danika and flicking her off on the way out.

While Kayla ran off to rejoin the group, Danika remained where she stood, just watching the sniper run off. "…Bitch."

* * *

Jagar King walked through the desolate halls. The years had been unkind to the tower that stood for centuries. "Fate!" Jagar bellowed loudly, calling out to the Tower's caretaker.

A shining golden ankh appeared before Jagar blinding the boy slightly, causing him to shield his eyes. Out of the ankh stepped a man in all blue, with golden gloves, a golden cape and a golden helm that covered his face.

"Tread lightly, Ghost of Time. Lest you tamper with the balance of all things." The, the caretaker of the Tower of Fate, agent of order warned as the ankh dissipated behind him. "Now speak your piece. I have others matters to attend to."

"I am aware of the list you've prepared." Jagar stated calmly, meeting Fate's scolding eyes. "Jonah Icarus must be dealt with. His presence in the past tampers with not only time but the balance of the universe. He must be dealt with."

"Agreed." Fate nodded. "And we both know the right man for the job."

"Flattery doesn't guarantee a discount, yes?" The pair of Jagar and Fate glanced to the shadows of the hallway. Out of the darkness stepped a large mechanized cyborg with a permanent scowl. "I'm Death's Head. When do I begin?"

* * *

As with every great villain, there is a great evil lair. The Figure's lair was a compound with low hanging lights, work benches and gun racks. The smell of oil grease hung in the air beside the vehicle pit, amongst the pitch black motorcycles and APCs. There was even a work area where The Figure had originally intended to bring a Time Bender to syphon their powers.

Of course his plans were changed the moment he'd run into Jagar King, but it seemed such a waste. The Figure had spent years preparing for this moment, and his equipment would just have to gather dust now without his presence.

But news of The Figure's disappearance had reached his underground network, the one he'd established in order to bring his plans into fruition. Thieves, murderers, villains all over would die just to get their hands on what the teen now left behind.

And so it was no surprise when the front gate was blown open. Out of the smoke stepped a teen wearing a long black coat, a dirt drenched white t-shirt, brown pants and a ripped and stitched burlap sack mask with a long hat. He carried with him an old fashion scythe and used it as a cane to enter the building.

The teen took a look around the premises and cracked a smile beneath his inhuman looking mask.

"What a glorious find."

* * *

 **Next: His Last Intent!**


End file.
